Snøhetta wins competition to design new El Paso Children's Museum

Snøhetta is on a roll right now: besides being recently selected to lead the ambitious expansion of Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum, winning the competition for the renovation of the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers in France yesterday, the firm was also just chosen as lead designer for the new $60 million El Paso Children’s Museum project. 

An international architectural design competition launched by the museum and El Paso Community Foundation had invited three firms—TEN Arquitectos, KoningEizenberg, and Snøhetta—to submit concepts that could then be presented to the community as part of a public selection process.

The El Paso Children’s Museum hopes to reach children and families from El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, the American southwest, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. 

From the project description: "The El Paso Children’s Museum will be located at 201 W. Main between the El Paso Museum of History and the El Paso Museum of Art within the Downtown Arts District, an area that attracts more than 1.5 million local, national, and international visitors per year. The Arts District is home to the El Paso Museum of Art, the Museum of History, the only bilingual Holocaust museum in the country, artist lofts, award-winning performing arts venues, a MiLB ballpark, a convention center, public art, festivals, green spaces, and more."

More information about the project we've received from Snøhetta: "In 2018, City Council approved additional funds to construct a world-class museum in response to private-sector stakeholders pledging to double their contribution to $20 million. The total cost of the EPC Museum is approximately $60 million. To manage this project, the City approved the creation of a Local Government Corporation. City Council will serve as the board for the corporation and manage the construction of the museum."

Final designs for the museum are now in development, and completion is scheduled for late 2021.