Courtesy / LEVER ARCHITECTURE
A rendering depicts the new building’s rooftop. A design hasn’t yet been finalized.
June 19, 2023
Portland Museum of Art awarded $300K USDA grant for planned expansion
Courtesy / LEVER ARCHITECTURE
In this rendering, the design by LEVER Architecture uses mass timber.
The Portland Museum of Art was awarded a $300,000 federal grant that’s expected to help the organization advance its use of mass timber in its $100 million, 60,000-square-foot expansion project.
The money was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity Program.
The program seeks to advance the use of wood as a sustainable building material while supporting rural communities and their economies.
The museum’s project is a campus expansion and unification that it's calling "The PMA Blueprint." It includes a new building at 142 Free St. made from mass timber, terracotta and glass. A curved roofline is designed to frame the sun as it rises and sets, in honor of Maine’s Wabanaki communities and the land they call Wabanakik, or Dawnland.
Earlier this year, the museum picked LEVER Architecture, based in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., to lead the project. The museum and LEVER are now in the midst of working out final designs.
The project was sparked by the growth and diversification of the museum's collection, record attendance and community feedback, and new opportunities to expand and unify its campus.
The museum project was among 123 awarded a Community Wood Grants and Wood Innovations Grant for its innovative mass-timber campus expansion and unification project, which includes open and free community space, new galleries, classrooms and maker spaces. The museum has made a commitment to sustainability, which includes using innovative, climate-safe materials and processes such as mass timber.
The PMA Blueprint was among three awardees in the state, including the Jesup Memorial Library expansion in Bar Harbor and Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, a wood fiber packaging startup in Saco.
Combined, the projects represent a $900,000 investment in Maine’s wood and timber economy.
The projects supported by the federal grant are selected based on their ability to help reduce pollution, conserve natural resources and protect vulnerable populations that are most likely to be affected by climate change.
Mass timber construction is said to be a climate-safe use of wood because of its low carbon footprint, integration with sustainable forestry practices and ability to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. While traditional building materials release carbon back into the atmosphere through decomposition or burning, mass timber retains carbon within the building, reducing its environmental impact significantly.
According to a University of Washington report, mass timber construction paired with sustainably managed forests present a 26.5% reduction in global warming potential. Buildings and construction contribute 40% of global carbon emissions annually.
LEVER Architecture is a design firm known for its use of sustainably sourced wood and mass timber construction. LEVER has spearheaded climate safe building design in projects including the Adidas North American headquarters expansion, Meyer Memorial Trust and the Nature Conservancy headquarters, all in Oregon.
Courtesy / LEVER ARCHITECTURE
A new building at 142 Free St. will be made from mass timber, terracotta and glass.
The Pacific Northwest has established a mass timber economy. But Maine’s is still in the works, despite being the country’s most forested state.
Other Maine-based projects using mass timber are the Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument and Bowdoin College Barr Mills Hall and John an Lila Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies.
Portland Museum of Art was founded in 1882 and is among the oldest museums in the country. It is also the largest and most visited art institution in Maine. The PMA’s collection includes more than 18,000 objects, including 19th- and 20th-century American and European art and iconic works from Maine.
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