The newly renovated Milwaukee Art Museum is drawing rave reviews for the art on the walls, but most patrons don’t realize they’re also enjoying a cutting-edge redesign of what’s right over their heads – a 3,840 square foot green roof. The new LiveRoof® Hybrid Green Roof System was installed in June and is engineered to provide a host of aesthetic and environmental benefits including the extension of roof life, energy conservation, and stormwater management. These benefits will help ensure art patrons can enjoy visits to the Milwaukee Art Museum for years to come.
LiveRoof Global, LLC, a horticultural science company, was chosen to provide the LiveRoof® Hybrid System for the Milwaukee Art Museum. Every LiveRoof project is engineered and grown to custom specifications based on climate conditions, engineering and other factors. The plants for the Milwaukee Art Museum were grown to full vegetation, then delivered and installed with attention to detail to provide a vibrant vegetated roof for the museum.
“The new planted roof will provide protection for the museum by acting as a protective shield from the elements,” according to Amber Poncé, GRP, Business Development Manager, LiveRoof, LLC. “Green roofs extend roof life preventing breakdown of roof materials, providing protection from wind and mechanical damage, and reducing or even eliminating cracks and leaks. The rooftop garden will protect the museum’s art so many generations can enjoy its beauty and value.”
“The new Milwaukee Art Museum is poised to set the standard for a twenty-first-century museum at the heart of a great city,” said Milwaukee Art Museum Director Daniel Keegan. “What began as a desire to preserve the space and Collection grew into a significant renovation that transformed how our visitors experience the art, rejuvenating the building on every level.”
The Museum, in partnership with Milwaukee County, transformed the visitor experience with 150,000 square feet of renovated, accessible and energy-efficient space, featuring the sustainable living room planted with drought-resistant succulents, a new HVAC system, watertight windows and energy-saving LED lighting systems.
The Milwaukee Art Museum, the largest visual art institution in Wisconsin and one of the oldest art museums in the nation, reopened Collection Galleries to the public November 24 following a massive six-year, $34 million renovation and reinstallation of its gallery space. The project is the first-ever large-scale reimagining of the Museum’s extensive collection areas, designed to create an intuitive and welcoming visitor experience, showcase its world-class Collection, double the space for feature exhibitions, and make crucial infrastructure repairs.
The new green roof was installed by David J Frank Landscaping Inc. of Germantown, WI. Hunzinger Construction Co., Brookfield, WI, was the general contractor for the Milwaukee Art Museum atrium addition and renovation.
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Please contact: Allison Peck, Director of Communications & Marketing, Milwaukee Art Museum, 414-224-3246, communications@mam.org
