Diller Scofidio + Renfro designed a “companion” building to The Broad in Los Angeles

New York architecture studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro has unveiled images of a sculptural, gray-hued expansion of The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, which the studio created nearly a decade ago.

Located next to The broadthe 55,000-square-foot (5,109 m2) expansion will contain additional art galleries, storage, performance space, and two outdoor plazas.

Renderings show a rectangular building raised above a plaza. The sash windows are pushed into their facade with the edges of the glass openings appearing to pull the exterior of the building inward. The studio said the expansion will complement the existing structure while retaining distinctive features.

“I think the new building is a companion to the existing broad building,” he said. Diller Scofidio + Renfro Partner Elizabeth Diller. “The pair share DNA, but each has its own distinct character and purpose in constant dialogue with its counterpart.”

The form was derived from the museum's original “veil” and “vault” concept, which consisted of a honeycomb-shaped “veil” that folded over a large gray organic “vault” that formed the interior.

“The exterior of the expansion mirrors the surface appearance of the vault – as if this core had been exposed and ‘unveiled’ – symbolically expressing The Broad’s commitment to access while playfully mirroring the visual vocabulary of the existing building,” the team said.

The expansion will host galleries on the first, second and third floors and storage shelves on the second floor that will contain additional works of art, which visitors will be able to navigate through.

It will also pay tribute to the circulation of the first structure, where the transitional areas have been given special care, according to the team.

“The original Broad was conceived as an experience that unfolded starting in the lobby, ascending the escalator that snaked through the basement, landing in the third-floor gallery immersed in the collection, and then slipping through the collection’s storeroom on the way back to the street.” Diller said.

“The challenge of adding more space to the building was to maintain this intuitive circulation and logic while offering a range of completely new experiences for the visitor.”

The interior shows a large white cubic gallery with track lighting, parquet flooring and contemporary artwork, with a window curved towards one corner.

An outdoor plaza located below and around the expansion will connect the museum to a local metro station.

The project will break ground in 2025 while the Broad remains open. The projected completion is scheduled for 2028, “before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics,” the team notes.

When The Broad opened in 2015, writer Mimi Zeiger described it as “an elegant exercise in mundanity.” In 2022, Elizabeth Diller said The Broad was designed to feel “very welcoming” in a Dezeen-produced video series dedicated to concrete buildings.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro recently completed a performing arts center on a college campus in Massachusetts, and filmed their first single-family residential project in the Hamptons years after its completion.

Photos by plump