Aspen Art Museum (AAM) in Colorado, US, has held an official groundbreaking ceremony to help mark the start of the work on a new 30,000sq ft (2,787sq m) home for the attraction.

The US$50m (£30.4m, EUR34.6m) building has been designed by Shigeru Ban Architects and will be located at the corner of South Spring Street and East Hyman Avenue in Aspen. Construction work is due to commence during the first half of 2012, with facilities to feature 12,500sq ft (1,161sq m) of exhibition space; an education classroom; a shop; and a café.

A roof deck sculpture garden will also be included as part of the new AAM's building, with completion scheduled for late 2013. The museum will remain at its current site until then. Key design elements of the new building will include a grand staircase along the interior of one side of the building and mobile pedestals to exhibit works on the staircase.

A "moving room" glass elevator; a woven exterior screen and roof structure; and "walkable" skylights will also be incorporated into the design of the new, privately-funded building. A spokesperson for AAM said: "The Aspen Art Museum will re-situate the institution within a facility that will both increase the Museum's size and its abilities to appropriately present contemporary arts programming in all its incarnations."

Image: Courtesy of the Aspen Art Museum and Shigeru Ban Architects