What does climate resilience mean for museums?

by Mila Robins, Environmental Designer

Museums exist to inform, to celebrate history and community and beauty, and create a space for both individual reflection and collective interactions. They serve an incredibly important purpose, one that is achieved through their contents as well as their architectural and physical forms.

At Atelier Ten, our ethos of Invisible Architecture is centred on making buildings perform beautifully without distracting from their purpose. In our past projects such as The MoMA in San Franscisco, this has meant creating stable conditions for art to be safely on display and keeping people comfortable while minimising energy use. Our work in the MoMA SF resulted in a 38% reduction in energy use in the existing building, and 50% over baseline in the new extension. Our strategies to reduce lighting pollution, offer green space, and reduce surface water run-off had a positive impact for the planet as well as the local community. As both environmental and social climates evolve, building resilience into our museums will mean more than efficiency and must become visible, overtly experienced in the spaces themselves.

A resilient museum connects to its microclimate and urban fabric. It leverages landscape, materials, and engineering that endure shifting weather patterns whilst remaining comfortable and inviting. Its spaces are flexible to accommodate different exhibitions, emerging technologies, and provide value for visitors (tourists and residents alike!). While much of our work in sustainability may still go unseen – controlling lighting, temperature, humidity, and air flow, optimising waste streams and water management – they should also be celebrated. A daylighting strategy, a visible reuse intervention, or a smart sensing system can become part of the museum’s own story and its duty to inform.

Taking the opposite example of a modern art museum, the Holburne Museum restoration in Bath exemplified what is discussed above, employing engineering and invisible strategies to enhance efficiency, but also enhancing what the museum can offer to the community – ensuring continued relevance. We increased and improved the interior and exterior space in this Grade I listed building, allowing for more of the collection to be displayed, bringing visitor amenities to a higher standard, and expanding opportunities for learning and research. Our design managed this while conserving the heritage of the building and the integrity of the museum’s collections.

At Atelier Ten we can define climate resilience for museums with detailed systems and bespoke frameworks that ensure an optimal design and operation; ultimately, what we want to emphasise with our design is that resilience is about continuity. We must continue to design our museums sustainably, but also responsively. In that way we can create resilient cultural institutions that continue to be places where people come to think, learn, and find beauty in the face of many kinds of change.