Best Cultural Project: Maryhill Museum Adds a New Wing, Enhances Views

A tight budget, a rural location on the cliffs above the Columbia River Gorge and a jobsite attached to a 100-year-old museum listed on the National Register of Historic Places combined to challenge designers and contractors on a 25,500-sq-ft expansion of the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Wash.

GDB Architects and contractor Schommer & Sons, both of Portland, teamed up to deliver a $9.5-million expansion of the 1914 museum. The addition had to fit with the historic character while minimizing visual impact on the 5,500-acre site tucked into the cliffs.