Tulsa World
Kevin Canfield
The renovation and expansion of the Gilcrease Museum will be designed by a pair of architecture firms that know each other well.
SmithGroup, a national firm whose work includes designing the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and 1Architecture of Tulsa have been selected as the architects for the $65 million Vision Tulsa project, the city of Tulsa announced.
The companies worked together on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Community Hospital and the Eufaula Indian Health Center. SmithGroup will be the lead architect on the Gilcrease Museum project.
“We are thrilled to be working on it,” said Melissa Lynn, a principal with 1Architecture. “We’ve been kind of tracking the project for several years really. … They (SmithGroup) have a lot of experience that they are bringing to the table that we are really excited about.”
Thirty-two architecture firms from across the country and overseas submitted their qualifications and letters of interest to the city. A selection committee narrowed the field to eight firms based on a scoring system that took into account applicants’ work history, project approach, team organization and other factors. The eight finalists were then interviewed and scored again.