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The idea for the CBMAA Campus Parking structure emerged from a fundamental rethinking of what a parking garage could be—not merely a utilitarian facility, but an architectural threshold that encapsulates the values of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: art, community, and connection to nature. Positioned near the museum’s entrance, the parking deck was conceived as a gateway experience, where visitors transition into a campus that weaves together exhibitions, learning, and the landscape. From concept to realization, the parking deck's development was shaped by the desire to extend the museum's mission into all aspects of visitor experience, transforming arrival into an act of engagement and discovery.
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The CBMAA Campus Parking structure redefines infrastructure as an experiential gateway, linking Bentonville’s urban edge with the immersive Crystal Bridges campus. Tucked into the Ozark forest, it integrates with the landscape while offering expansive views from the Sky Terrace and direct links to Orchard Trail and Convergence Plaza. Café and retail spaces at ground level activate Museum Way, while vertical fins clad in aqua azure metal create a sculptural identity inspired by midcentury automotive design. Color-changing LEDs animate the façade by night, transforming the deck into a glowing civic landmark. This is more than a parking facility—it’s an architectural prelude to art, nature, and community.
Sustainability guided the CBMAA Campus Parking structure’s design and siting. The garage preserves existing trees and soil, integrating with the Ozark forest and minimizing site disruption. Constructed with durable post-tensioned concrete, it ensures long-term performance and reduced maintenance. The building’s vertical fins provide passive solar shading, while programmable LED lighting reduces energy use and light pollution. Ground-level amenities and pedestrian connections promote walkability, reducing vehicular impact across the campus.
The CBMAA Campus Parking structure is a six-story, 800-space deck that reimagines the typology of the parking garage as a multipurpose civic gateway. Situated along Museum Way near the main entrance to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, the building sets the stage for a campus where art, nature, and community converge. More than a utilitarian facility, the garage incorporates ground-level café and retail spaces that activate the street and extend the museum’s public presence. The second floor features the Sky Terrace, an open-air event venue and sculpture platform overlooking Convergence Plaza and the surrounding Ozark forest. Vertical fins clad in aqua azure metal panels—referencing a 1965 Pontiac Tempest—wrap the structure in a sculptural rhythm, mirrored across both entries. At night, dynamic LED lighting animates the façade with firefly-inspired patterns. The structure is built of post-tensioned concrete and organized into three long bays, with a single-ramp system and multiple vertical circulation points providing direct access to the museum and nearby Scott Family Amazeum. Framing views and pathways, the garage enhances the arrival sequence, creating a sense of anticipation and welcome. It serves as both a practical amenity and a symbolic threshold—an architectural front porch that reflects the museum’s mission to enrich lives through art, environment, and meaningful experience.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has embraced the Campus Parking structure as a meaningful extension of its mission and visitor experience. In its official announcement, the museum highlighted the garage not just as a functional amenity, but as a “significant milestone” in the campus’s ongoing expansion. They emphasized its role in supporting access to nearby attractions like the North Forest Trail, Listening Forest, and the Amazeum, while celebrating the integration of public art.
Marlon Blackwell Architects (MBA) is an agile, full-service design firm based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. Established in 1992, MBA is committed to the value of design. Led by Marlon Blackwell, selected recipient of the 2020 AIA Gold Medal, we have a successful history of generating and implementing visions for multi-scale projects. We achieve this by advocating a collaborative process between the client, community and ourselves, as well as the entire design team where all voices are heard throughout the process. Our belief that architecture can happen anywhere, at any scale, at any budget—for anyone—drives us to challenge the conventions and models that often obscure other possibilities, resulting in an international design reputation through extensive recognition of our work in architectural design journals and books and more than 180 design awards.
