Project
United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum
Nomination
Best Architectural Design for a Museum
About the project
The US Olympic and Paralympic Museum is a 60,000 sf building that features 20,000 sf of galleries, a state-of-the-art theater, event space and café. Inspired by the energy and grace of Team USA athletes and the organization’s inclusive values, the building’s dynamic spiraling form allows visitors to descend the galleries in one continuous path. This main organization structure enables the museum to rank amongst the most accessible museums in the world, ensuring visitors with and without disabilities can smoothly share the same common experience.
The museum’s façade consists of over 9,000 folded anodized diamond shaped aluminum panels, each unique in shape and size. The taut skin wraps four overlapping petal-like volumes that spiral around the internal structure. Each metallic panel is animated by the extraordinary light quality in Colorado Springs, producing gradients of color and shade that give the building another sense of motion and dynamism.
Location
200 S. Sierra Madre St, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Project implemented in
2020
More project images
https://dsrny.com/project/us-olympic-museum
Project video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqRxs-QmrV0
Additional information
Colorado Springs Gazette: «Former, hopeful Olympians and Paralympians lend unique perspective as U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum employees» by Kate Shefte
Wallpaper*: “DS+R-designed US Olympic and Paralympic Museum opens in Colorado” by Ellie Stathaki
Architectural Record: “U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum by Diller Scofidio + Renfro” by David Hill
Colorado Springs Business Journal: “City for Champions tourism off to a good start” by Jeanne Davant
Applicant and authors of the project
Founded in 1981, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an interdisciplinary design studio based in New York led by four partners — Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin. DS+R completed two of the largest architecture and planning initiatives in New York City’s recent history: the High Line and the transformation of Lincoln Center. In 2019, the studio completed two more projects significant to New York: The Shed and the renovation and expansion of The Museum of Modern Art.
Other participants
Architect of Record: Anderson Mason Dale Architects
Exhibition Designers: Gallagher & Associates
Museum & Content Development: Barrie Projects
Structural Engineer: KL&A in collaboration with Arup
Civil Engineer: Kiowa Engineering Corporation
Fire Engineering: Jensen Hughes
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: The Ballard Group
Electrical Engineer: ME Engineers
Acoustics, Audio/ Visual, Theater: Arup
Accessibility: Ileana Rodriguez
Lighting: Tillotson Design Associates
Landscape Architects: NES, Inc. in collaboration with Hargreaves Jones
Code: Advanced Consulting Engineers
Vertical Circulation: Iros Elevators Design Services
Cost Estimating: Dharam Consulting
Energy Modeling: Iconergy
Exterior Envelope Consultant: Heitmann & Associates
Facade Fabrication: MG McGrath
Construction Manager and General Contractor: GE Johnson