Unveiling the design for the New Brunswick Museum revitalization project

April 3, 2024

The New Brunswick Museum (NBM) project, a 134,000 sq. ft. facility, will bring together the museums’ research work and exhibitions within one sustainable, decarbonized facility. The design integrates the east wing of the museum’s historic Collections and Research Centre built in 1934, and significantly expands the museum’s footprint with five new wings to the north.

A new, accessible main entrance on street level greets visitors in a multi-story, public great room designed not only for museum visitors but community gatherings, festivals, events, and receptions. The great room serves as a crossroads for the museum, connecting the east entrance to an outdoor terrace to the west, and leading to a north-south galleria connected to education spaces. To the south, the façade of the historic wing will front a library and archival reading room, a 115-seat auditorium, and administrative spaces for the museum.

The second floor will feature 30,000 square feet of exhibition space spanning the length of the building, including six permanent galleries and a temporary gallery space designed to accommodate visiting and special exhibitions with continuous circulation throughout. Open gathering spaces crisscross the atrium from above, adding light and openness to the galleries. This level will also include floor-to-ceiling bay windows overlooking the water that allow gallery visitors to connect with the landscape and cityscape.

In collaboration with Diamond Schmitt and EXP,  Fast + Epp has developed a mass timber steel hybrid structure, featuring exposed mass timber elements in the exhibition spaces and central atria. A significant renovation and structural upgrade will be completed inside the existing 1934 structure, allowing full connectivity from old to new.