Wells Fargo Museum

Pennacle Construction and Substance Architecture joined Wells Fargo to create a one-of-a-kind Museum experience. This project remodeled an existing bank lobby, transforming it into a museum that documents the history of Wells Fargo bank from its inception. The project included a raised floor system for the distribution of air throughout the space and flexibility for future layout changes to the museum. The HVAC system was designed to achieve very precise temperature and humidity requirements for the preservation of priceless works of art. It was important that this work be completed while keeping the adjacent retail bank 100% operational.

The museum consultants chose a Panelock Partition system that allows infinite flexibility in artwork display. This was the first time this system had ever been used by Wells Fargo. The panels were custom built in England. The challenges of the 20-week lead time for the material and very exacting standards of the system were something the Pennacle team focused on at the very beginning of the project. The finish date was critical as Tim Sloan, the CEO of Wells Fargo, was already scheduled to arrive in November for the ribbon cutting ceremony when the project began. The fact the product had never been used before also created challenges for the crafts people to install the system.

Another challenge was the delivery of stage coaches and art work due to their high value and the difficulties of getting them off the truck and transported into the museum. All of this was completed successfully, and Wells Fargo takes pride in having a customer museum that is like nothing else in the country.