Olana Frederic Church Center for Art
& Landscape




2022-2024
Architecture Research Office
Location: Hudson, NY
Size: 4,600 SF

The Olana New York State Historic Site and Park is the former home and property of famed Hudson River School painter Frederic Church. Now owned and operated by the New York State Parks Department, the site acts as a preserved landscape where visitors can tour the grounds, amble along carriage roads, and visit the estate housing Church’s painting studio. The Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape is the new state-of-the-art, sustainable building that welcomes visitors to the site as part of Nelson Byrd Woltz’s comprehensive landscape plan for the 250-acre site. Intended to blend with its natural landscape, the welcome center is a single story collection of modest programs — a welcome lobby, multipurpose room, cafe, offices, and restrooms — all housed beneath a simple, low profile shed roof. Its main structural elements include mass timber columns and beams along with a cross laminated timber (CLT) roof, that together help to reduce the amount of embodied carbon in the building’s construction material. The result on the interior are warm finishes showcasing the natural grain and knots of these structural wood elements. Skylights and large curtainwall elements in the lobby and multipurpose room help draw a connection between these natural finishes on the interior and the lush landscape of the site. Colors on both the interior and exterior are inspired by details and ornamentation from the Historic House and studio. The building’s red vertical siding matches that of other historic farm structures on the site. Acting as a new entry point to the property, The Center presents Church’s vision of Olana as a work of art uniting nature and culture.

Olana Frederic Church Center for Art & Landscape




2022-2024
Architecture Research Office
Location: Hudson, NY
Size: 4,600 SF

The Olana New York State Historic Site and Park is the former home and property of famed Hudson River School painter Frederick Church. Now owned and operated by the New York State Parks Department, the site acts as a preserved landscape where visitors can tour the grounds, amble along carriage roads, and visit the estate housing Church’s painting studio. The Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape is the new state-of-the-art, sustainable building that welcomes visitors to the site as part of Nelson Byrd Woltz’s comprehensive landscape plan for the 250-acre site. Intended to blend with its natural landscape, the welcome center is a single story collection of modest programs — a welcome lobby, multipurpose room, cafe, offices, and restrooms — all housed beneath a simple, low profile shed roof. Its main structural elements include mass timber columns and beams along with a cross laminated timber (CLT) roof, that together help to reduce the amount of embodied carbon in the building’s construction material. The result on the interior are warm finishes showcasing the natural grain and knots of these structural wood elements. Skylights and large curtainwall elements in the lobby and multipurpose room help draw a connection between these natural finishes on the interior and the lush landscape of the site. Colors on both the interior and exterior are inspired by details and ornamentation from the Historic House and studio. The building’s red vertical siding matches that of other historic farm structures on the site. Acting as a new entry point to the property, The Center presents Church’s vision of Olana as a work of art uniting nature and culture.

 




























































































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