Project Name: White House Visitor Center Rehabilitation Project ...
Project Name:
White House Visitor Center Rehabilitation
Project Location: 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20004 Project Category: Institutional Architecture
In American culture, the White House serves a complex role as a home, office, museum and stage for ceremony. The post-9/11 world forced a shift in focus for its visitor center from a simple queuing area for tours to a standalone interpretive experience in its own right. Faced with an aging center incapable of meeting that need, the National Park Service in conjunction with the White House Historical Association, sought to renovate the White House Visitor Center to provide visitors with a rich connection to the history of the White House and President’s Park.
Particular attention is paid to the light within the center. The strength and natural beauty inherent in the room is preserved by maintaining the natural light coming from both sides of the main axis, allowing the space’s appearance to change with the weather and the seasons. At the same time, new up-lights expose the richness of the coffered ceiling previously obscured by overly-bright chandeliers. Exhibit lighting contained within the casework accentuates the interpretive displays without overpowering the existing character of Baldrige Hall.
To meet that challenge, a sensitive renovation of the center within its location at the historic Baldrige Hall was devised. The design team separated the large hall into interpretive zones, creating space for new interactive exhibits, a theater with an introductory film, a permanent museum gallery, a temporary exhibit area, a retail shop, and visitor information facilities. Despite the division of space, enclosed areas within the hall are kept to a minimum in order to diminish infrastructure needs. Further, the strong character of Baldrige Hall required that any interventions in the space respect and remain independent from the historic fabric. For that reason, freestanding casework and theater walls are utilized to support exhibit and retail activity.
Other important design priorities included making the center universally accessible for all visitors and incorporating sustainability principles embraced by the National Park Service. The renovation updates an iconic historic space into a modern interpretive experience sensitive to the needs of both its users and to the historic fabric, and ultimately aiding the White House Visitor Center to fulfill its mission of teaching visitors about the peaceful change of power in a democratic government.
The integration of architecture and exhibits within the distinct character of the room creates a dialog between old and new, demonstrating a respect and sympathy for the past while embracing the present.
Design team’s existing conditions photograph, 2009. Top: Baldrige Hall in the 1930s.
View from entrance ramp. At the heart of the visitor center is a 15-foot White House model, supplemented by framing interfaces. All visitors, including those with visual and hearing impairments have access to exhibits, including personal sound systems, tactile models, and interactive interpretative exhibits.
Bookstore
Entrance
Exhibits
A balance is struck between telling the story of a building with historical and cultural significance within a space that has its own strong story and character. The renovation complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, a guiding document for federal agencies.
Theater
Exhibits have varying degrees of transparency, promoting relations between display zones. The lightness of the new, white materials contrasts with the classicism of the room and refers to the White House itself, while the strategic use of open spaces provides unencumbered views of the historic stone walls and coffered ceiling.
Exhibit lighting contained within the casework accentuates the interpretive displays without polluting the atmosphere of Baldrige Hall.
The arcade provides a site line through the space and filters natural light from southern windows.
The unobtrusive bookstore preserves the focus on the visitor center’s educational mission. Display tables and lighting echo the reading tables from the hall’s patent office days.
Original fixtures provide general ambient light and new up-lighting augments the intricate ceiling work, emphasizing the neoclassical details previously rendered flat.
White House Visitor Center Rehabilitation
Project Location: 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20004 Project Category: Institutional Architecture
In American culture, the White House serves a complex role as a home, office, museum and stage for ceremony. The post-9/11 world forced a shift in focus for its visitor center from a simple queuing area for tours to a standalone interpretive experience in its own right. Faced with an aging center incapable of meeting that need, the National Park Service in conjunction with the White House Historical Association, sought to renovate the White House Visitor Center to provide visitors with a rich connection to the history of the White House and President’s Park.
Particular attention is paid to the light within the center. The strength and natural beauty inherent in the room is preserved by maintaining the natural light coming from both sides of the main axis, allowing the space’s appearance to change with the weather and the seasons. At the same time, new up-lights expose the richness of the coffered ceiling previously obscured by overly-bright chandeliers. Exhibit lighting contained within the casework accentuates the interpretive displays without overpowering the existing character of Baldrige Hall.
To meet that challenge, a sensitive renovation of the center within its location at the historic Baldrige Hall was devised. The design team separated the large hall into interpretive zones, creating space for new interactive exhibits, a theater with an introductory film, a permanent museum gallery, a temporary exhibit area, a retail shop, and visitor information facilities. Despite the division of space, enclosed areas within the hall are kept to a minimum in order to diminish infrastructure needs. Further, the strong character of Baldrige Hall required that any interventions in the space respect and remain independent from the historic fabric. For that reason, freestanding casework and theater walls are utilized to support exhibit and retail activity.
Other important design priorities included making the center universally accessible for all visitors and incorporating sustainability principles embraced by the National Park Service. The renovation updates an iconic historic space into a modern interpretive experience sensitive to the needs of both its users and to the historic fabric, and ultimately aiding the White House Visitor Center to fulfill its mission of teaching visitors about the peaceful change of power in a democratic government.
The integration of architecture and exhibits within the distinct character of the room creates a dialog between old and new, demonstrating a respect and sympathy for the past while embracing the present.
Design team’s existing conditions photograph, 2009. Top: Baldrige Hall in the 1930s.
View from entrance ramp. At the heart of the visitor center is a 15-foot White House model, supplemented by framing interfaces. All visitors, including those with visual and hearing impairments have access to exhibits, including personal sound systems, tactile models, and interactive interpretative exhibits.
Bookstore
Entrance
Exhibits
A balance is struck between telling the story of a building with historical and cultural significance within a space that has its own strong story and character. The renovation complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, a guiding document for federal agencies.
Theater
Exhibits have varying degrees of transparency, promoting relations between display zones. The lightness of the new, white materials contrasts with the classicism of the room and refers to the White House itself, while the strategic use of open spaces provides unencumbered views of the historic stone walls and coffered ceiling.
Exhibit lighting contained within the casework accentuates the interpretive displays without polluting the atmosphere of Baldrige Hall.
The arcade provides a site line through the space and filters natural light from southern windows.
The unobtrusive bookstore preserves the focus on the visitor center’s educational mission. Display tables and lighting echo the reading tables from the hall’s patent office days.
Original fixtures provide general ambient light and new up-lighting augments the intricate ceiling work, emphasizing the neoclassical details previously rendered flat.
