St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, Florida visitors attraction design, USA Architecture Images
Lighthouse & Maritime Museum in St. Augustine
Apr 23, 2020
Design: Architecture Is Fun, Inc.
Location: St. Augustine, Florida, USA
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum keeps the stories of our nation’s oldest port alive. Our approach to defying the traditional aligned with the desires of the museum and its executive director to break boring rules for historic site exhibits.
Photos by Matt Wargo
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum
Through architecture and storytelling, the architects transformed a disparate site into an interconnected campus of authentic play and preservation experiences that extend visitor engagement to help make the lighthouse more than just a 219-step climb, they added super-tall silhouette personages who span floors, adding impact and character to the historic interior.
Once-cluttered landings are now welcome places of respite. The characters punctuate lighthouse beauty and function, count steps, callout views and engage via social media. Within the adjacent Education Center, model ships share stories of famous Florida coastal journeys, and a miniature lighthouse permits accessible play with lens explorations.
Visitors previously intent on only the lighthouse climb now are attracted to the immersive experiences of the historic two-story keeper’s home: a WRECKED discovery lab with hands-on STEM challenges and, submerging below, a sandbar’s undulating terrain of oceanographic topography.
The lighthouse and keeper’s house are all historic elements which we touched lightly through sensitive architectural solutions that share stories. In the keeper basement, we even made use of the twin cisterns by adding an artful display of ship “kites” that fly in turbulent seas, demonstrating the hardship of navigating Florida’s coastline. Having the sandbar sculpture lean on the coquina walls when submerged in the basement also demonstrated touching the fragility of the structure lightly.
The wood used to shape the sculptural sandbar was itself salvaged from underwater. The wormwood, over 75 years submerged, represents sustainability and resilience. Its warmth and strength demonstrate maritime construction techniques. Other products included updating lighting with CREE LED bulbs lowering humidity and temperature, which helped protect artifact and Benjamin Moore paint and stains as needed.
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, Florida – Building Information
Architecture & Interpretive Design: Architecture Is Fun, Inc.
Art & Experience Design: Fun Finders
Completion date: 2017
Photography: Matt Wargo
St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum in Florida information / images received 230420 from Architecture Is Fun, Inc.
Location: St. Augustine, Florida, USA
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