Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion

2006–2010 | Indianapolis IN

Client Indianapolis Museum of Art
Architect Marlon Blackwell Architects
Structural Engineer Guy Nordenson and Associates
Awards 2013 SEAoNY Excellence in Structural Engineering Project Finalist Award; 2012 AIA Honor Award; 2012 AIA Indiana High Honor Award; 2012 Gulf States Regional AIA Honor Award; 2012 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award; 2011 AIA Arkansas Honor Award; 2011 Architect Magazine Design Review Award; 2011 World Architecture Festival Finalist: Display and Visitor Centers

The Visitors Pavilion is located adjacent to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and serves as a gateway to the museum’s 100 Acres: Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. The 3,000sf steel framed pavilion is situated within a floodplain and has been elevated to allow for free flowing water in the event of a flood. Steel moment frames spaced at roughly 10ft provide lateral stability within the extent of the 1,200sf interior space. The roughly 70ft long horizontally kinked canopy tilts slightly upward at the end and is supported on four pipe columns. Perforated IPE wood slats form a semi-transparent envelope of deck, wall, and roof allowing natural light to filter into the pavilion.