The Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art Store

A Bold Transformation

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art began a reassessment that started in 1993, which now in 2007 has resulted in an increase of 71% in space or a 165,000-square-foot expansion. Together with this symbolic gesture for Kansas City, the new vision for retail will help expand the value of a visit, extend communication about the museum and most importantly, generate revenue.

A Smart Plan

Moving visitors through a folded space to present a variety of product stories, our approach was to blend seamlessly into Steven Holl’s bold architecture for the new building, studying the sequences of visitor orientation, flow to activate all parts of the space and visual perception.

A Design with Light and the Power of Line

Ceilings tilt, walls fold, planes intersect, vistas expand and constrict, backlit glass floats; resulting in a flowing plan which has a dynamic and active relationship with the merchandise.

Design for a Continuity of Cultures

There were questions of how to interpret the remarkable encyclopedic collections of The Nelson Atkins while also being coherent in the context of a very contemporary building. By grouping related items, stories were crafted around product, inspiring visitors to engage. Product was sought based on many of the museum’s collections and design of the space was developed to showcase a diversity of product inspired by the various cultures represented within the museum’s collections.