PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Crow Museum of Asian Art is the first building to be constructed at the University of Texas at Dallas as part of the planned Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum. The Athenaeum is a 12-acre cultural district that will include two museums, a performing arts center, a large parking structure, and a public art plaza that connects all the spaces.

Read more about this project in the Summer 2024 issue of Ascent.

PRECAST SOLUTION

The architect zeroed in on precast concrete for the museum project because it can be quite malleable, which works for the types of geometries and complex forms that are designs. Precast concrete is very appropriate for enclosures and provides a lot of opportunities that other materials don’t.

Architect

Morphosis

Local Consulting Architect

GFF Design

Owner

University of Texas at Dallas

Contractor

The Beck Group

Structural Engineer

Datum Rios, LLC

Precast Concrete Producer

GATE Precast Company

Key Project Attributes

• The Crow Museum was a design-assist project with Morphosis, general contractor The Beck Group, and GATE Precast—a collaboration that began early in the process.
• Coordination between the GATE team led by senior project manager Ryan Reinhard, the architect, the general contractor, and the structural engineer revolved around panel geometry and jointing.

Project/Precast Scope

• The 2¼ in. of architectural precast concrete is framed with recycled tube steel and spray-on insulation with an ultra-low global warming potential.
• The project team worked through several iterations of the concrete, the aggregates, and the finish, eventually settling on a medium sandblast
• Only about half the panels are hung in the traditional configuration—bottom bearing and top connected—while the rest are cantilevered off secondary steel. Curved radius panels in the lobby and atrium are canted and angled.