Exterior rendering of the eight-story, 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible. Opening in 2017, the museum is being designed by lead architect group Smith Group JJR (Smith Group JJR/ Museum of the Bible)
The eight-story, 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible took a giant step toward its 2017 opening in Washington, D.C., beginning with surgical demolition of a 1982 addition to the historical building that will be reinvented as an international Bible museum. (Design renderings and video of live demolition are available online.) Purchased for $50 million in 2012, the former refrigeration warehouse and interior design showcase site—three blocks from the U.S. Capitol—will be restored, adapted and enhanced over the next three years to create the newest addition to D.C.’s pantheon of museums, as part of a more than $400 million construction project.
At a media briefing in Washington, Museum of the Bible President Cary Summers announced the museum’s lead partners for design and construction, which include some of the biggest names in the museum and monuments industry.
“We’ve partnered with the best construction and design teams in the world to make Museum of the Bible an engaging, inviting and innovative place that people all over the world will want to visit,” said Summers. “We’ve empowered them with the task of creating a museum space that honors this site’s history, improves the immediate area and neighborhood, and captures the essence of the Bible through a recognizable, iconic landmark.”
Clark Construction, consistently ranked among the nation’s leading building and civil contractors, and whose recent work includes the White House Visitor Center renovation and the Smithsonian’s National Museums of African-American History and Culture, and of the American Indian, will lead the construction efforts out of its Bethesda, Maryland, office.
Working alongside Clark Construction is the museum’s architectural design team, D.C.-based SmithGroupJJR, the nation’s 8th-largest architecture/engineering firm and the world’s 36th-largest architecture practice. Its portfolio also includes the Smithsonian’s National Museums of African-American History and Culture, and of the American Indian, as well as the International Spy Museum.
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SOURCE: Charisma News
Chandler Epp
