A closer look at the Norton Simon Museum
An October visit with Architectural Resources Group explored the care behind the museum’s distinctive tile façade, arrival spaces, and sculpture garden.
Approximately 115,000 ceramic tiles designed by Edith Heath cover the Norton Simon Museum’s curving exterior. Their variations in color and texture give the Pasadena landmark a handmade quality that becomes more apparent as you move closer. The surface is one of the museum’s most recognizable features, and caring for it requires attention to both the building as a whole and the condition of individual tiles.
On October 15, Liz MacLean, Principal at Architectural Resources Group (ARG), welcomed the Omgivning team for a tour of the museum’s Exterior Improvement Project. ARG led the project and invited us to learn about its work, from conserving the façade to improving the approach from Colorado Boulevard and renewing the sculpture garden.
The tile restoration began with a conservation study to assess existing conditions and guide cleaning, repair, and selective replacement. The museum worked with Heath Ceramics to re-create tiles where originals were missing or too damaged to retain. The work preserves the variation that makes the façade distinctive while addressing the wear that comes with decades of exposure.
At the entrance, an accessible pedestrian route, updated signage, and landscape improvements make the museum easier to approach and navigate. These changes are part of the visitor experience before anyone reaches the galleries. They also show how a familiar building can become more welcoming through careful adjustments to its setting.
In the sculpture garden, the work extends to pathways, planting, seating, and the pond. Improvements to drainage and pond filtration support the health of the landscape, while the renewed paths make the garden more accessible. Much of this work sits quietly within the experience of the grounds, allowing visitors to continue enjoying the qualities they know.
For our team, the visit was an opportunity to see how another practice coordinates conservation, accessibility, and landscape within an established cultural institution. Thank you to Liz and ARG for sharing their work with us. The next time you visit the Norton Simon Museum, take a moment to look closely at the building and grounds as well as the collection.