University of Colorado, Boulder Natural History Museum & Library
Boulder, CO

150,000 sq ft.

In 2017, the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB) engaged WBA, CannonDesign and a consultant team of museum specialists to work with museum and library peers to assess and identify the needs for collections held by the institution. The irreplaceable treasures in the collections at UCB Natural History Museum and Library represent cultural and natural heritage. They form an accessible, growing, and actively used collection of resources for scholarship, teaching, and life-long learning.

The library and museum share a goal to democratize the collection and provide broad access to the objects.  The consultant team worked closely with staff to outline best practices and criteria to evaluate 10 distinct collections, over 5 million objects, held in stewardship by the Natural History Museum and Norlin Library. After a rigorous evaluation, the consultant team identified that nearly all the museum and library collections were at risk of degradation or catastrophic loss jeopardizing their future access and usefulness in research. The team outlined current collection space needs and future collection space needs for both the Natural History and Library collections at 13 and 26 year projections. The program developed for the collection spaces, support spaces, shared labs and flexible classrooms provided an overall square footage for a future facility. 

With the square footage data and outline of building criteria for a conservation environment, the team evaluated various approaches to house the collections ranging from in-place renovations, expansions of existing building, leased buildings, to new construction.  Space plans were developed to study the various renovations and additions.  Cost estimates were provided for each option along with evaluations of the options against the University’s goals.