The Museum’s four-block campus comprises more than twenty buildings that have accumulated over nearly 150 years. By establishing a new entrance at the west, and creating dozens of new links between existing buildings, the Gilder Center improves visitor flow and overall functionality for the entire Museum campus. These critical alignments—both in section and in plan—ground the building in its context, maximizing the utility of the space while minimizing negative impact on the historic surroundings. Its undulating façade is clad in Milford pink granite, the same stone used for the Museum’s historic main entrance on Central Park West.

The Gilder Center’s setting within Theodore Roosevelt Park placed the project under the jurisdiction of multiple City and State regulatory agencies. The project successfully secured unanimous approval from New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission—an unprecedented achievement for a project of this scale, complexity, and prominence. A robust engagement strategy allowed the design team to collect input from a variety of community stakeholders, including community organizations, elected officials, Community Board 7, and government agencies. The result of this collaborative process are significant improvements to adjacent portions of the park, benefiting museum visitors, pedestrians, and the local ecosystem, and includes a revitalized and enlarged 13,500-square-foot lawn; twenty-three new canopy and understory trees, in addition to the notable canopy trees that were preserved; and new shrubs, groundcovers, and planted islands, creating a rich regional tapestry with seasonal interest.