The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, is reopening following an overhaul by Foster + Partners, featuring a roof that curves around an old tree and a botanical garden for sculptures.

British firm Foster + Partners completed the renovation of the museum on Olive Avenue three years after work began on the project.
The scheme aimed to revert the Norton Museum of Art back to its simple axial arrangement, as conceived when it was built in 1941 by architect Marion Sims Wyeth as a series of single-storey, art-deco pavilions arranged around a courtyard. Alterations made over the years, however, had confused this layout.

"The revitalisation of the Norton is rooted in revealing and enhancing the original spirit of the building," said Norman Foster in a project statement. "Over the years, the museum had lost its sense of identity in the neighbourhood," he added. "The entrance had been moved to a side road, and there was no presence of a museum."

To resolve this, Foster's scheme adds a new 59,000-square-foot (5,480-square-metre) wing to the western side, creating a new entrance and a stronger presence facing the city's South Dixie Highway.
A huge roof on top curves around an 80-year-old Banyan tree. Reaching 43 feet (13 metres) above the ground, the canopy shades the entrance from Florida's harsh sunlight.

Three double-height wings behind bridge the galleries in the existing low pavilions with the three-storey Nessel Wing, which was a...