Fall 2013 - 3rd Year Comprehensive Studio

 

The addition to the Portland Children’s Museum began with an analysis of the site and the development of a site machine. Through a rigorous study of water collection on the site main points were determined and transformed into nodes of activity, which connect to man-made streams and lead visitors into the museum.

 

The main entrance is emphasized by three water collection pools as well as a clear cantilevered basin . Additionally, hanging gardens frame the main entry sequence and are accessible through the addition spaces.

 

Clad in varying opacities of channel glass, the addition sits atop the original building and connects to the main lobby through a suspended ramp, along which are moments of interaction similar to those experienced via the paths into the museum. 

 

The collection of water on both the site and within the museum is utilized to passively and actively treat the building and the site, and informs the circulation to, and within, the building as well as the treatment of the program spaces and the facade.