On Wednesday, February 19, the Menil Collection in Houston unveiled plans for the Menil Drawing Institute, the first freestanding facility in the U.S. created especially for the exhibition, study, storage, and conservation of modern and contemporary drawings. The $40 million project will be helmed by the Los Angeles-based architecture firm, Johnston Marklee.

The 30,150-square-foot building will be located between the museum’s Cy Twombly Gallery, which houses a veritable retrospective of the modern artist’s career, and Richmond Hall, the Menil’s 1930s-era building that holds a large-scale light installation by Dan Flavin. The new one-story building will have a thin, flat roof made of painted steel plate that will unite the structure’s indoor spaces with its three open courtyards.

The Menil Collection was founded by Houston-based collectors John and Dominique de Menil in 1987. The museum houses their comprehensive collection of 20th century art, which includes works by Rene Magritte, Man Ray, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, and Mark Rothko.  

Construction on the Menil Drawing Institute is scheduled to begin in early 2015. A $110 million capital and endowment campaign is currently underway.