Museum of Fine Arts

The opening of the new Nancy and Rich Kinder Building late in 2020 concluded an eight-year museum redevelopment project. With a striking design and impressive scope, this masterful terrazzo project comprises over 52,000 square feet of traditional sand-cushion, cementitious terrazzo. The centerpiece of the museum complex, the new gallery contains 45,500 square feet of Venetian terrazzo in size 4-7 aggregate. The architect’s objective in this gallery was to respond to the green terrazzo installed in the museum by the contractor’s grandfather some 65 years before. This historic installation, which is in excellent condition and still looks brand new, was replicated in a transitional lobby space. In the rest of the gallery, a complementary blue-gray color was specified. From the lower level, a precast cementitious terrazzo stairway begins with a raised seating platform. Leading to the intermediate level and the main floor is a precast staircase with three poured-in-place landings. The main floor revolves around a poured-in-place suspended staircase with 41 steps of varying lengths and widths set on a plinth. In a tunnel connecting the gallery to another part of the complex, 4,000 square feet of sand-cushion, white terrazzo with finer aggregates strikes a contrasting note.