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The Maryhill Museum of Art opened in 1940 with an eclectic collection featuring Rodin sculptures, post-impressionist paintings and Native American basketry 鈥� all on display in a circa 1907 Beaux Arts style mansion with a sweeping view of the Columbia River Gorge.聽As the collection grew over the decades, the need for more space became critical.

Bypassing the obvious approach for an expansion 鈥� an attachment that would simply mimic the existing building 鈥� the museum board and GBD Architects decided on a design that ran more along the lines of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Digging 25 feet down into basalt bedrock created 25,500 square feet of space for an expansion wing. The underground expansion was capped with a concrete cantilever terrace extending 20 feet out and over the Columbia River.聽The terrace serves double duty: an outdoor display area for statuary as well as a platform for viewing the gorge.

Sustainable design and construction efforts led by general contractor Schommer & Sons included a reliance on regional materials, use of local subcontractors as much as possible, concrete cast work on site, and waste minimization.

鈥淲orking closely with the design team brought us to solutions like polished concrete and aggregate floors that are designed for minimal thermal expansion and cracking, but look right for the museum,鈥� project manager Paul Schommer said.聽鈥淲e hand-selected exterior exposed steel structural elements for grade and finish, right down to the quality of the weld.鈥�

Museum curator Colleen Schafroth is delighted with the result of that attention to detail.

鈥淲e have a lot of items that are sensitive to temperature and humidity. The new underground wing has storage and display areas that take that into account,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have meeting rooms now, too.聽We used to have meetings in rooms that were meant for display or archive.聽What they’ve done here is just perfect.鈥�