Druker Family Pavilion at the Museum of Fine Arts

Bergmeyer’s inspired retail spaces enable visitors take home a piece of the MFA’s world-class collection.

As one of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s most frequently-hired architects, Bergmeyer, with its series of projects, has helped the MFA give new focus to existing spaces so that its storied facility on Huntington Avenue can support the institutional mission into the 21st century. Our collaboration began with the historic preservation of the Shapiro Colonnade and Rotunda, which returned the 1909 Beaux Arts space to its original splendor. Bergmeyer also designed multiple renovations and additions to the retail shops, restaurant, and information center in the 1981 I.M. Pei Wing. As a result of the Museum’s new Art of the Americas Wing and subsequent reprogramming of the Linde Family Wing, Bergmeyer recently designed three museum shops: a luxury boutique and the special exhibition shop in the original building and a complete renovation of the main museum store. Bergmeyer’s judicious reprogramming of valuable space allowed the MFA to reduce the museum store’s floor area and create new seminar rooms for the Museum’s robust educational program. These transformations also capitalized on the Museum’s expansion by locating the boutique gift shop — which sells curated collectibles and estate jewelry — in a previously underutilized space adjacent to the Museum’s popular new jewelry gallery.

Innovative and contemporary, Bergmeyer Associates is who Restaurant Associates Managed Services often turns to for a progressive, stylish look to its new and remodeled cafes and restaurants. When presented with challenges — ranging from a client requirement, to a cumbersome existing condition, to a space and/or budget constraint — Bergmeyer rises to the occasion and provides solutions that are practical, unique and creative. This project was fast tracked, requiring all work to be phased, as the food court needed to stay open throughout construction and is opened every day of the week. Bergmeyer's coordination was crucial to the project’s success, and the design is spectacular. — David Ruede, Former VP, Design and Construction (Restaurant Associates)

DRUKER FAMILY PAVILION

BOOKSTORE, SHOP, AND EDUCATION CENTER

The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art/Druker Family Pavilion, located in the Museum’s West Wing, is the redevelopment of an existing 6,900-sf museum book and gift shop to accommodate two new community classrooms and a smaller more modern store.

The wing was redeveloped to exhibit the extensive modern art collection of the MFA. In support of the reprogramming of the museum,the existing store space was reconfigured to accommodate and extend both visitor experience (Retail) and educational mission (Classrooms) requirements. The store is now a 4,300-sf space focused on product directly related to the collection of the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art.

The design challenge was to reduce the footprint of the existing museum shop and add new two classrooms; while maintaining views and day-lighting from the existing courtyard, and the visual and aesthetic continuity of the 2-story gallery space. To accomplish this, the architectural language ties to the sharp edged modernity of the museum’s surrounding art gallery space. Lighting, color, and materials in the store and education spaces are natural extensions of the gallery. Linear slot lighting runs perpendicular to the glass storefront providing visual connection to the courtyard beyond. Builtin fixtures within the store’s book department are located along the west wall, and the majority of the remaining fixtures were kept low to open up the views in and through the store.

Minimal color is used throughout, respecting the simplicity of the museum. Overt wayfinding signage was not needed due to careful material selection and color choices to unify and connect the circulation space, the galleries, and the courtyard with the new store and classrooms.

HUNTINGTON AVENUE SHOP

The new Huntington Avenue Shop was completed within an eight-week construction schedule to coincide with the opening. The main objective of the project was to convert 1800 square feet of gallery space into a gift shop to form a lively retail presence at the museum’s newly re-opened main entrance and ticketing lobby on Huntington Avenue.

There were many challenges in the creation of this new store. First was how to merchandise the long narrow footprint. By creating vignettes, the customer is led through the space from product category to product category ending at a vibrant, red feature wall at the back of the shop. This glowing red wall is designed to mirror the brightly lit ticketing wall opposite the shop. The entry, originally located post-admission, was reconfigured to be preadmission, and with a new, wheelchair-accessible ramp and full-height sliding glass doors, the store is welcoming to all.

The spare architecture of the space is complemented by clean and simple fixturing. Modern lacquer and chrome finishes and lighting integrated into many of the fixtures allow the store’s beautiful collection to shine. The multifunctional fixturing system with interchangeable hardware allows merchandise categories to be moved to any location.

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS SHOP

The Special Exhibition Retail Shop is part of the Museum of Fine Arts’ new Special Exhibitions Gallery. Working in tandem with the gallery, the retail shop aims to extend and enhance the visitor experience at the Museum, as well as maximize the net contribution of the store to the MFA.

Bergmeyer was charged with the task of taking the existing, 1,700-sf Special Exhibition Shop and fitting it into a new, 1,000-sf space. To create flow through the small, square footprint, we subtly defined a “circulation” area allowing visitors to move comfortably through the space.

In addition to the reduced footprint, as the shop for the museum’s Special Exhibition Gallery, the new store needed to commodate the product changes with the ever changing exhibits. To satisfy both of these needs, we maximized flexibility through a “kit of arts” fixturing system with interchangeable fittings, movable floor fixtures, the ability to create and relocate feature wall displays, and the ability to create merchandise display “stories” by mixing components and merchandise types within the same display. To minimize trips to the stock room during operating hours, the fixtures were designed to provide back-stock storage throughout the store.