PAU won the invited global competition to design an expansion of I.M. Pei’s original building completed in 1995. Competing against an international list of invited architects, including several Pritzker laureates, PAU’s design was selected on the strength of its distinct palimpsest approach that reimagines and extends Pei’s language of platonic volumes while addressing many of the challenges of the original building. Instead of creating a separate object, PAU’s design fuses with the original structure and is intended to be both reverent of Pei, yet dynamically irreverent, like the musical genre it embodies. The parti pulls three forces together—the City of Cleveland, Lake Erie, and the Pei pyramid—while negotiating the 20’ grade change from the city to the waterfront by creating an amphitheater in the lobby that can be accessed by the general public for free, impromptu performances. The expansion will roughly double the size of the museum, including a new entry lobby; an acoustically-designed and sub-divisible performance, classroom, and 1,350 person event venue; reinvented permanent and temporary exhibition space; new food and beverage offerings; replacement office space; and a complete rethinking of circulation systems that extend into the landscape. With a redefined interior and exterior expression that is both inclusive and accessible for global Rock and Roll fans of all races, genders, ethnicities, and abilities, the project also serves local residents, particularly teens who use the place for both music education and as a free space to hangout and listen to music during frigid Cleveland winters.