COSTA MESA, CA.- The Orange County Museum of Art this past week broke ground on the museum’s new building at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA. Designed by Morphosis, the global architecture and design firm led by Pritzker Prize-winner Thom Mayne, the new 53,000-square-foot facility—defined by an open and engaging urban presence within Orange County’s largest center for arts and culture—will allow the Museum to expand on their legacy of community enrichment and presentation of modern and contemporary art from artists rooted in Southern California and the Pacific Rim. The new permanent home for the Museum, which was previously located in Newport Beach, is projected to open in 2021.

The Museum has announced, on the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony, that it has now raised $47 million toward construction of the new building.

The groundbreaking ceremony for OCMA’s $73 million-project brought together Katrina Foley, Mayor, City of Costa Mesa; Todd D. Smith, OCMA Director & CEO; Craig Wells, President of the Board of Trustees; Annette Wiley, Board of Trustees Building Committee Chair; Anton Segerstrom, Trustee; and Mark Perry, Board Chair, Segerstrom Center for the Arts; as well as Thom Mayne, Design Director, Morphosis Architects; Carlos Gonzalez, Regional Executive Officer, Clark Construction Group; Costa Mesa City Council Members; Santa Ana Civic Officials; Consul Norma Edith Aguilar Andrade of the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana; Laura Schwab, CEO of Aston Martin; OCMA collection artist Amir Zaki Alexandra Grant; and artists featured in OCMA’s new exhibitions at OCMAEXPAND-SANTA ANA, Daniel Duford, Robert Zhao Renhui, Yang Yongliang.

With nearly 25,000 square feet of exhibition galleries—approximately 50 percent more than in the former location in Newport Beach—the new museum building will allow OCMA to organize major special exhibitions of 20th and 21st century art alongside spacious installations from its world-traveled collection. It will also feature an additional 10,000 square feet for education programs, performances, and public gatherings, and will include administrative offices, a gift shop, and a café. Clark Construction Group will serve as the general contractor.

“We are so incredibly grateful to our donors for allowing us to take this important step towards realizing a new home for the Orange County Museum of Art at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The breathtaking design by Morphosis will undoubtedly support our mission of enriching the lives of a diverse and changing community through innovative and thought-provoking presentations of modern and contemporary art,” said Mr. Smith.

“The location within the Segerstrom Arts complex, combined with OCMA’s focus on public programming, led us to develop a new architectural idea—a model for museums as part gallery space, part public plaza—which emphasizes their role as urban connective tissue rather than as iconic, stand-alone objects,” said Mr. Mayne.

“The new building will allow the museum to ultimately play an ever-larger role in southern California’s dynamic arts scene. For more than 50 years, the Orange County Museum of Art has been dedicated to providing the public in Orange County world-class arts programming, a mission which will only be advanced through the institution’s relocation to Segerstrom Center for the Arts.,” said Mr. Wells.

Design for the new museum
Designed to provide flexible and functional spaces while creating an inviting and memorable atmosphere, the building has a main floor dedicated to reconfigurable open-span exhibition space. Complementing this space are mezzanine and street-front galleries that can accommodate temporary and permanent collection exhibitions spanning a variety of scales and mediums. A spacious roof terrace, equivalent in size to 70 percent of the building’s footprint, serves as an extension of the galleries, with open-air spaces that can be configured for installations, a sculpture garden, outdoor film screenings, or events. Hovering over the soaring, light-filled lobby atrium is an inspiring and dynamic architectural space for performance and education, illuminated by a dramatic window overlooking the terrace.

On the outside, the design includes a grand public stair curves toward the entry, linking the museum to Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Julia and George Argyros Plaza and the adjacent performing arts venues, and creating an inviting public gathering space for pedestrians and visitors. A façade of light-colored, undulating bands of glazed terracotta paneling, creates a distinctive character for the new building, playing off the forms and language of neighboring works of architecture.

The building’s design choreographs a rich and diverse visitor experience, from approach and entry to procession through the galleries, concluding with an invitation to linger on the steps, in the café, or in the museum store. With its gradient of architectural intensity, from complex forms at the museum’s entry to rectilinear and flexible forms within the galleries, the building is a memorable and striking environment that connects indoor and outdoor spaces.