IMEG art gallery project featured in Architectural Digest
The Francis M. McGuire Art Museum in Merion Station, PA—a renovation project featuring MEP design by Bruce E. Brooks & Associates now IMEG—is profiled in a recent feature by Architectural Record.
The former Barnes’ Merion Gallery Building previously housed the art collection of Dr. Albert Barnes but had been mostly vacant since 2012, when most of the collection moved to a new location in Philadelphia. In 2017 the Barnes Foundation forged an agreement allowing St. Joseph University to use and maintain the building, which had been constructed in 1925 with renovations in 1994.
The project renovated the building to provide student and rotating collection galleries, academic programming spaces, and an updated conservation lab in the basement to be used by the foundation. The project also restored the exterior envelope, modernized the interior galleries, and provided a new entry stair/ramp.
The heating, cooling, and ventilation systems were updated to maintain a high degree of temperature and humidity control in all gallery spaces while improving the energy efficiency of the building. In addition, new lighting systems with specialized controls were installed to elevate the gallery design and materials on display.
The project was also named the ENR MidAtlantic Best Project in the Cultural/Worship category.
