Glenstone Museum Water Feature Design

A museum's central water features meet the highly modern aesthetic while also using and biologically filtering harvested rainwater from its rooftops.

The Glenstone Estate and Museum houses a world-class collection of post-World War II artwork. Glenstone’s architecture, and the restorative quality of its rural landscape, are considered integral to the museum experience.

When Glenstone sought to expand in order to accommodate their growing collection, they turned to Thomas Phifer and Partners, who designed The Pavilions. The Pavilions building is comprised of several rooms connected by a glass enclosed passage.

Biohabitats worked with the design team to create an 18,000-square-foot water court that is enclosed by this glass passage. The water feature, which is fed by rainwater harvested from the museum’s rooftops, not only supports seasonally changing plant life, but provides a provocative link between the natural and built environment. The feature employs both biological and conventional filtration processes to keep the pond water clean. Planted gravel beds in the feature serve as biofilters through which the water is recirculated, while bead filters and an ozone injection system provide additional treatment in the mechanical room below.

The Museum received the 2020 national Architecture Award and was selected as Best in Competition for the 2020 AIA NY Design Awards.

TAGS

• Design
• Resilient Water Systems