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photo of Burke Museum Wins AAM Sustainability Excellence Award

Burke Museum Wins AAM Sustainability Excellence Award

2021/05/24

We are very excited to share that The Burke Museum (led by principal/owner Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA) received the 2021 Sustainability Excellence Award for New Facilities from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This award recognizes a new project that meets both collections care and building performance goals.

The Burke Museum is the oldest public museum in Washington State with a collection of over 16 million artifacts and specimens, ranging from totem poles and gemstones to dinosaur fossils. The design of the new building breaks down traditional museum barriers between public and “back-of-house” spaces, integrating collections and research labs with traditional galleries. The result is an experience that invites everyone – from curators to visitors, educators to students – to engage in the process of scientific and cultural discovery.

Certified LEED® Gold in 2020, the museum’s sustainable design strategies include energy-efficient lighting; low-flow water fixtures; a high-performance mechanical system to ensure interior air quality; and use of local, recycled and durable materials, including its sustainable Kebony siding. The Burke Museum’s site plan and landscaping further incorporates natural stormwater filtration and thousands of native, genetically diverse and culturally significant plants.

We are honored to have our work recognized by this program, and thankful to the incredible client group and project partners we had the opportunity to work with on The Burke Museum. Visit the AAM to learn more!

The Burke Museum, Seattle, Washington, USA

Design Principal: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA
Principal and Project Manager: Stephen Yamada-Heidner, AIA, LEED® AP
Project Architects: Edward Lalonde and Justin Helmbrecht, LEED® AP
Architectural Staff: Gavin Argo, Julia Khorsand and Olivier Landa, AIA, LEED® AP BD+C
Gizmo Design: Phil Turner
General Contractor: Skanska
Laboratories: BergerABAM
Landscape Architect: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Elevators: Lerch Bates
Civil and Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Lighting Design: Niteo Lighting
Building Envelope: RDH
Electrical Engineer: Stantec
Mechanical Engineer: WSP
Gizmo Fabrication: Turner Exhibits
Specifications: Cite Specific
Museum Programmer: Walter Crimm Associates
Accessibility Consultant: Karen Braitmayer
Exhibit Design: Evidence Design