The Corning Museum of Glass in New York has unveiled the final design of its North Wing expansion, which is slated to open in late 2014.

Designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners, the addition will include a new 26,000 sq ft (2,415sq m) contemporary art gallery building, as well as a new 500-seat glassmaking demonstration venue in the renovated facility of the former Steuben Glass factory ventilator building, adjacent to the museum.

The design of the contemporary art gallery is a square, minimalist white glass building containing soaring, daylight-filled galleries.

The façade will be constructed with large, white glass panels that create a nearly seamless, softly reflective expanse. Inside, the gallery will feature a simple, white interior with large curvilinear concrete walls.

Thomas Phifer said: “The minimal exterior of the gallery building promises a tranquil and illuminating experience inside.

“Visitors enter a light-filled, glass vitrine to view and appreciate works of art in glass.”

The luminous all-glass gallery building will be juxtaposed against the black metal exterior of the adjacent glass factory ventilator building that will contain the new venue for the Museum’s signature live glassmaking presentations.

The space, which can be entered through the new contemporary gallery, will accommodate 500 people through retractable banked seating, and will feature a gallery-level balcony running around the perimeter of the venue that offers 360-degree views of the glassmaking below.

Karol Wight, executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass said: “The architecture of the Museum, since the first building in 1951, has illustrated innovative uses of glass in architecture.

“Thomas Phifer's design for the North Wing gallery marks a dramatic new chapter in the rich history of modern and contemporary glass architecture on our campus.”