Shaker Museum

Chatham, NY
Type: Cultural
Role: Sara Lopergolo (Design Partner, Selldorf Architects)

The Shaker Museum in Chatham, New York, reflects the values of the Shaker religious sect, emphasizing racial and gender equality, sustainability, and community. Housed in a carefully restored 19th-century brick structure, the museum features galleries, a reading room, community space, and a conservation facility.

Preserving the original rhythm and proportion of windows, the building undergoes necessary repairs, introducing a steel structure for stability and creating clear exhibition space. An external fire egress stair, wrapped in metal mesh, echoes historical elements.

A contemporary addition, clad in dark grey fiber cement panels, complements the original structure. Connected by a glass link, it houses the entrance, ticketing, a café, offices, and a conference room. Structural Cross Laminated Timber is used for both buildings' floors.

The new lobby, with sliding doors opening to a covered porch and community area, pays homage to the original structure's lost porch. A Shaker-inspired landscape by Nelson Byrd Woltz features medicinal and native plants, creating a community gathering place with a small amphitheater and concentric bluestone circles.

Renderings by Selldorf Architects