University of Washington New Burke Museum

Seattle, WA

University of Washington New Burke Museum

Built to replace an existing natural history museum, this LEED Gold building offers 12 labs and workrooms, six galleries, collection storage areas, a workshop for artists on three levels, and a street-level café. MKA’s steel-frame structure includes stiffened, steel-plate canopies up to 20 ft long and exposed steel-frame stairs supporting a Coast Salish-inspired roof.  The new museum is 66% larger than the original building, with climate-controlled collection storage areas that allow for future growth.  A key design aspect is “maximum transparency,” creating an immersive visitor experience by revealing behind-the-scenes research and preservation. The civil site design included construction of the new museum building, demolishing the existing building, and constructing both tiered and ADA pedestrian and parking hardscape areas and plazas.  As permitted under the 2016 Seattle Stormwater Code, the design incorporated onsite stormwater management facilities, including several cascading bioretention planters and ponds.  New utility connections were established for water and sanitary sewer services.