Provincetown Art Association and Museum

Photo credit: ©Anton Grassl/Esto

Materials & Resources

The expansion and renovation used more than a quarter of the existing building, keeping materials out of the waste stream and limiting the use of new materials.

Interior materials were chosen for their beauty, durability, and low levels of harmful chemicals. Existing wood floors were kept, and new floors were matched to the old ones. Floors in the studios are epoxy with low volatile organic compound (VOC) content, chosen for their durability and ease of care. Walls were covered with recycled-paper wallboard to allow studio users to pin designs to the walls. The engineered lumber contains no added urea-formaldehyde, and low-VOC paints, sealants, and carpets were used throughout.

Diversion of Construction & Demolition Waste

More than 80% of construction waste, by weight, was recycled.

Design for Adaptability to Future Uses

The design team designed the project so that the art storage vault, gallery spaces, and studio art classrooms could serve the institution well into the future. The museum's new art storage vault was intended to accommodate not only the current collection (previously housed in several offsite locations) but also the museum's future growth. The floors were designed to support an efficient, high-density storage system.

The gallery spaces connect to create a circuit, allowing them to be used individually or collectively and ensuring the flexibility needed to handle a range of exhibitions. The second-floor studio spaces could also be converted to gallery spaces by adding another door to the elevator on the first level. The studio spaces are also flexible, with the central studio designed to be used as either one room or two.

Green Strategies

• Building Deconstruction
  • Reuse existing structure
  • Identify items to be salvaged from existing structure
• Plan for Materials Longevity
  • Use materials and systems with low maintenance requirements
  • Provide a rain screen in exterior walls to prevent bulk water (rain) penetration
• Job Site Recycling
  • Investigate local infrastructure for recycling
• Resource-Efficient and Biobased Materials
  • Use engineered wood products in place of large-dimension timbers

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Our thanks to the ENERGY STAR program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and to the U.S. Department of Energy, and to BuildingGreen, Inc. for hosting the submission and judging forms.

For more information about the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects, contact AIA/COTE. For help on how to use this Web site, contact .