This minimal approach to lighting carries through the building. In the galleries, the goal was to create flexibility for a wide variety of exhibits and art objects. As a result, the recessed tracklighting is laid out in a tic-tac-toe grid. At the building’s entry, a single carefully placed spotlight is positioned to illuminate a group of Noguchi sculptures in the courtyard, and dark-sky-compliant fixtures in the parking lot provide illumination for the rest of the site.
As lighting designer Paul Marantz notes, the ultimate challenge was to figure out just how much light they could put into the building without risking any disruption to the rural setting or “the bucolic nature of Willamstown.” Unlike so many buildings that are designed to have a nighttime appearance, the Stone Hill Center is not meant to change the character of the area; it is meant to disappear at night. One of the project’s real draws for the public is the outdoor terrace that frames views of the Green Mountains and Taconic Range and overlooks the conservation labs—allowing visitors a firsthand look at the conservators at work.
The Stone Hill Center is articulated gracefully and sits unobtrusively in its natural setting thanks to the work of landscape architects Reed Hilderbrand Associates. Locating the new building away from the existing Clark facilities is meant to take advantage of the Clark’s 140 acres and expand the network of walking trails, creating a relationship between the museum and the landscape.
Selected by museum officials for his ability to work with light and root a building in its surroundings, Ando has created a series of luminous spaces—both interior and exterior—where light and airflow defy time and place. As Marantz notes, “Stone Hill’s design is simple but meticulous.” A prelude to the rest of the Clark’s Ando-designed expansion that will be completed over the next several years, it also will include renovations to the Clark’s existing buildings by Selldorf Architects, updates to the existing gallery lighting by the Renfro Design Group, and integrated curtain wall and daylighting strategies by Arup. Gensler will serve as architect of record as it did on the Stone Hill Center. Stone Hill gives the visitor just enough of a hint of what is to come and leaves them curious to see how the rest of this architectural treasure will look when it is completed.
