Throwback Thursday from QA+M’s Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art project, a historic restoration of the first public Art Museum in the United States. Smith Edwards McCoy Architects, who merged with QA+M Architecture back in 2017, kept the historic details alive while integrating modern elements. This three-time award winning project included a new lighting plan to properly illuminate the collections, a redesign of the conservator’s studio and textile storage areas, and extensive repairs and restorations to various envelope components of the five-building campus.

In addition, we developed a comprehensive plan to make the complex fully HC accessible, with several new elevators and a series of ramps seamlessly integrated into the historic architecture. We also provided assistance with the decoration and installation of several period rooms, coordinated the architectural changes for a new central air-conditioning system, managed the re-roofing of the entire complex. Finally, QA+M coordinated and managed the complete and complicated rebuild of the enormous historic skylight based on QA+M’s details.