Museum Parc

the opportunity

Through creative placemaking, Museum Parc will transform an existing surface parking lot into a public/private mixed-use neighborhood that provides greater access to art and nature through the use of Museum assets, an expanded sculpture garden, and a new progressive gallery and plaza. Two new buildings will provide nearly 250 rental housing units, the ground floors of which will feature visible gallery space for the Museum, residential amenities, retail to activate Central Avenue, and townhouses along University Avenue. By removing parts of the surrounding Museum wall and breaking up the massing of the two new buildings to create a more welcoming experience at the human scale, Museum Parc will engage community, strengthen the identity of the Newark Museum of Art, and revitalize and expand the arts district in Newark.

our approach

The design is sensitively inserted into the existing urban context to create a welcoming experience for residents and the community. The block-long façade is broken in two, forming a passageway to funnel visitors into the site as well as two separate buildings—a six-story industrial-inspired building which nods to Newark’s history and a 12-story tower which contributes a modern urban scale element and adds to the city’s skyline. Brownstones along the buildings’ base create a graceful transition to the scale of the neighborhood and pedestrian. The façade above the transparent gallery space will provide a canvas for a mural or installation which will extend onto the existing end wall of the museum, creating synergies between old and new. With fresh design rooted in historical context, Museum Parc will create a dynamic bridge between the Museum and the community of Newark.

Program

Studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental units; art gallery; retail space; public green space; sculpture garden

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