Denver’s Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art is moving from its home in Capitol Hill to a new facility to be built in the city’s burgeoning Golden Triangle Museum District.
The Kirkland is currently located in an easy-to-miss spot at 13th and Pearl. Its new home of 19,000 square feet will be at the northwest corner of W. 12th Avenue and Bannock and will double the museum’s current space and give the museum a higher-profile setting among its cultural peers. Here’s a Google Earth aerial with the Kirkland’s new location outlined in yellow:
The museum’s new location is across Bannock Street from the Clyfford Still Museum and the Denver Art Museum’s new administrative office building. An ugly surface parking lot and an old structure currently occupy the property. The new museum building will anchor the corner at 12th and Bannock, with a small portion of the site reserved for some off-street parking. Here’s a Google Earth Street View image showing the corner:
The new Kirkland Museum will be designed by Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects. While the new building itself hasn’t yet been designed, Olson Kundig has prepared the rendering below as a conceptual design for the new structure:
An interesting aspect of the Kirkland Museum project will be the relocation of Vance Kirkland’s original 1911 studio building from its current site at 1311 Pearl Street to the new site on Bannock. The relocated 3,011-square foot Arts & Crafts-style studio will be incorporated onto the northern end of the new Olson Kundig building, providing an intriguing architectural contrast between the two while preserving the artist’s original space as part of the museum’s new home.
Construction on the new Kirkland Museum is anticipated to begin in 2015 with completion in late 2016 or early 2017.
I wonder if they are going to demolish the small historic church looking structure on the corner if the site. I’ve never been in it, but I understand from someone that has, it would be salvageable.
How exciting! I love the Kirkland Museum!
For those how love art, Philip Anschutz’s art collection in the Navarre Building (across the street from the Brown Palace) is a must-see! It is officially called the American Museum of Western Art. It is only open a few days a week and reservations are recommended. It is an impressive and extremely varied collection that even people who dont care for “Western Art” will still enjoy.
Thanks, Corey, I didn’t even know that building (and the art inside) was open to the public. I’d only heard about it as a mysterious private art collection.
Wow, that Google Maps image really shows how much more work there is to be done in the Golden Triangle neighborhood. It would definitely be on my short list of neighborhoods to buy in if I was in the market for a new home.
Ken, along these lines, I noted a large apartment building (O2xygen) planned for the same block on your residential projects map:
https://denverinfill.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2014-01-27_downtown-residential-projects-January-2014-map1.jpg
I was able to find a rendering on an inferior website:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=196935&page=186
Otherwise, I can’t seem to find any information about this development. Anything filling in this block (probably the worst in Golden Triangle) would be great. A mid-rise residential building would be more than great.
Do you know anything about this project, or is it fair to assume that it was cancelled for having a cheesy, unpronounceable name?
Hi. Yes, I’ve been in contact with the architect and there are newer versions available, but I just don’t think this project is going to happen. I hope I’m wrong. I’ve debated on whether to do a blog post on it or not.
Shame, I’ve been really hoping this one pulls through. Things have really kicked up residential wise in the southern part of the GT, but the north is still almost entirely parking lots and government installations. Nothing wrong with the later, but it would be nice to balance that out and get more 24/7 residents in the area.