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The international design firm Allied Works has been selected to lead the Vero Beach Museum of Art expansion and renovation project which will focus on building resiliency and future growth needs for the VBMA. After working with architect selection advisor David Meckel and completing a nine-month extensive search that entailed a highly competitive line-up of 13 national architectural firms and an eventual short-list of four, VBMA has selected Allied Works for the project.
The design team for the Vero Beach Museum of Art expansion will be led by Allied Works founder Brad Cloepfil and Principals Chelsea Grassinger and Gabe Smith.
“Brad, Chelsea, Gabe and their team fully embraced the complexities and opportunities of our project which involves opening up to a lush park environment while simultaneously building out a more resilient campus,” VBMA Executive Director/CEO Brady Roberts said. “Allied Works has the right experience – including extensive experience working on museums in high humidity coastal areas — and the creative design thinking to address these challenges.”
Known for its quietly powerful museum architecture in service of art, Allied Works will begin the design process with an intensive research and exploration phase this summer. Responding to the immense population growth in Florida, the firm will track the trajectory of the Museum, and envision a platform for expansion over time. Inspiration and influence for the eventual design will come from the landscape as the team employs a holistic resiliency strategy that extends well beyond the Museum’s façade.
Anticipated completion for the Vero Beach Museum of Art expansion and renovation is 2026.
About The Vero Beach Museum of Art
The Vero Beach Museum of Art is a 35-year-old, private non-profit institution. VBMA provides cultural leadership and enrichment for the public through a broad range of educational programs and studio art classes that complement a dynamic schedule of changing exhibitions. The Museum’s growing collection has strengths in American Modernism and global contemporary art, and is one of the largest accredited art museums on Florida’s Atlantic Coast.
About Allied Works
Allied Works is an interdisciplinary architecture and design practice with offices in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. Guided by principles of craft and innovation, the firm is grounded in the belief that architecture provides new insight into its surrounding physical and cultural landscapes and serves as a catalyst for civic engagement and dialogue.
Founded in 1994, Allied Works is widely recognized for its arts and cultural projects, among them the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, which has been acclaimed for its nuanced approach to light and space, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, the National Music Centre of Canada, in Calgary, Alberta, and the National Veteran’s Memorial Museum in Columbus, Ohio.
Allied Works recently completed a major expansion to Providence Park in downtown Portland, home of the Portland Timbers and Thorns football clubs, the new United States Embassy compound in Maputo, Mozambique, and the new Palmer Art Museum for Penn State University will open next year.
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