The substantial expansion and renovation to the Museum at the Gateway Arch’s existing structure advances the Museum’s integration into the National Park and the surrounding urban environment, resulting in an intuitive visitor experience from the Park, the Courthouse, and from downtown St. Louis. Working with Cooper Robertson, JCDA has added 45,000 square feet of new exhibition space, and established accessible visitor circulation throughout. More than 100,000 square feet of existing exhibition space is reconfigured by harnessing the site’s natural light, in turn creating a greater connection to Eero Saarinen’s iconic Gateway Arch.

As visitors traverse the new landscape bridge over I-44 and approach the Museum, two paths graciously converge and lightly descend to the entry. The additional length allows the paths to be completely accessible, and the gradual slope in turn creates a gentle descent and transition from the landscape to the museum entry, resulting in a seamless pedestrian experience. Within the Entry Plaza, strategic landscaping merges views into and out of the Museum with landscaping in the larger environment, connecting the Park and the Museum.