Louisville, KY is a large diverse city with a vibrant cultural life. It is also the birthplace of the famous international boxer Mohammed Ali and well known for the KY Darby. The local municipal authorities and the Children’s museum trust embarked on a mission to initiate an Ideas competition for a new site for the Museum. When the competition was initiated, we jumped at a chance to participate.
The project was intended to revitalize an edge in downtown Louisville, with the site located opposite a park.
We were clear that we wanted a museum that was as aesthetically interesting to the kids as the exhibits inside. We started by creating a network of ramps that would connect the 5 storeyed museum so that kids could run about and enter the exhibits that they wanted to.
On the fifth floor, we designed a lush winter garden where the kids could see live exhibits of flora and enjoy a break that was different from the hushed environs of the museum.
The exteriors were wrapped with a metal panel system which had a kaleidoscope of different colors which not only attracted the kids but all generations.
We were clear about wanting a safe entryway for the kids from the park, so we raised and ramped a corner of the park to extend over the road that runs around the museum. Little visitors could walk safely over the street and into the museum. The space underneath the raised section was used for commercial spaces for eateries and shopping.
The building was designed to LEED Gold standards and we received a second round citation for the competition for the out-of-the-box approach.
Year:
2013