As a projection of a geometrically perfect circle on to the steep slope, the new gallery is conceived as a courtyard building that combines a pure geometrical layout with a sensitive adaption to the landscape. The three‐dimensional imprint of the landscape creates a protective ring around the museum’s focal point, the sculpture garden where visitors, personnel, exhibition merge with culture and nature, inside and outside.

The building comprised of timber in its upper structures, bridges and slabs features a long and slim footprint covering an area of ca. , m. SBC makes full use of the allowed maximum building height of . m across seven floors, and is based on an ideal office bar typology measuring m in width. Instead of one single zig-zag volume, as envisioned in the masterplan, BIG’s design consists of two stacked and rotated zig-zagging bars.

Running from January through August , Hot to Cold marked BIG&#;s first major North-American exhibition offering a behind-the-scenes look at BIG&#;s creative process and how the studio&#;s designs are shaped by  cultural and climatic contexts. More than architectural models, mock-ups and prototypes were suspended at the sec­ond-floor balconies of the museum&#;s historic Great Hall, turning the architecture of the National Building Museum into the architecture of the exhibition.

Upon entering The Smile, residents are met by red, blue, green, and yellow tiles, inspired by Harlem’s Puerto Rican and Caribbean murals. The exterior of the building trickles into the interior, with the multicolored mailbox mirrors, colored tiles, and the wooden furniture shaped to mimic the curve of the building form. The material palette, herringbone tile pattern and sparks of color are carried into the elevators and the upper floor residential lobbies, creating a unified experience throughout the building.

On the same ground floor, those with tickets can enjoy performances in OARA’s -seat theatre featuring flexible seating configurations and acoustic systems optimized by an all-black checkerboard panel of concrete, wood and perforated metal. Upstairs, film-goers can view screenings at ALCA’s red-accented -seat cinema or visit the two production offices and project incubation area. FRAC occupies the upper floors with m high exhibition spaces, production studios for artists, storage facilities, -seat auditorium and café.