New York architecture studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro has unveiled a preliminary design for a new museum in Colorado Springs dedicated to the legacy of US Olympic and Paralympic athletes (+ slideshow).

Galleries and public areas for the US Olympic Museum are organised around a large atrium, forming a series of spaces that lead to a top floor gallery with a framed view of Pike's Peak.

"Inspired by the movement of athletes, the United States Olympic Museum spirals up and outwards from a central atrium, drawing the public in at its base and propelling them up through the galleries," said Diller Scofidio + Renfro principal Elizabeth Diller in a statement.

A new plaza extends the series of public spaces in America The Beautiful Park – a 12-hectare national park within the city. A set of low-rise stairs function as bleachers and merges the building with the plaza to encourage public gathering. The total project site covers 0.7 hectares in a major urban renewal area in downtown Colorado Springs.

The 5,600-square-metre facility will be the only museum in the US dedicated to the Olympic Games. In addition to the 1,900 square metres of galleries, the museum will also include a large auditorium and broadcast studio.

Museum officials hope to break ground in 2016, with a opening date set for 2018 – in time for the Winter Olympics, which will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea. Before then, they will need to raise $80 million to build and operate the museum. It has already received $42 million towards the construction.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro is currently working on a spate of museum projects around the US, including the Broad Museum in Los Angeles and a new art centre at Stanford University. The studio is also working on the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California at Berkeley, and an expansion at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.