PROJECT North Capitol Building, Museum of Utah PHASE 100 SD DATE April 2022 Communities: Communi When enter lobby, visito gallery or e overhead co exhibit area deeper dive around the focuses on h cities, and r exhibit that may use an about these PROJECT North Capitol Building, Museum of Utah PHASE 100 SD DATE April 2022 18 Communities: View Entering Gallery Communities: Entrance When entering the Communities gallery from the main lobby, visitors may choose to explore the Traditions gallery or enter the main gallery space. A series of overhead color bands and braids connect the various exhibit areas. We Are Utah allows visitors to take a deeper dive into artifacts and content from museums around the state. The Settlements section found at right focuses on how communities formed in Utah’s towns, cities, and rural areas. Settlements includes a Crossroads exhibit that interprets Utah’s many languages. Visitors may use an audiovisual interactive element to learn about these languages. Architectural Details Enormous care was taken in the design process to ensure that the collection would be protected and yet still fit into the Capitol Complex’s context. Heber Slabbert, AIA, of ajc architects and the museum’s project architect, said, “The exhibit floor could have no UV light or windows; in fact, most of Level One has no windows. We had to find a creative solution to integrate with the campus with no contextual windows. We collaborated with VCBO to design architectural alcoves to maintain the architectural language.” Numerous life safety protections are standard for the Capitol Complex. The North Capitol Building, like the rest of the campus, has a base isolation structural system. However, others are particular to the nature of a museum — its gathering spaces, exhibition galleries, collection storage areas and laboratories. There are deliberately redundant security measures to protect them from theft, damage and environmental concerns. Slabbert continued, “The team had to find a way to control temperature and humidity as a central atrium with a circular stair bifurcated by four museum entrances, effectively splitting the building in half. As a result, two climate-controlled areas were designed. On the exhibit level, most sensitive items are climate-controlled within the exhibit case. We also integrated a third level of protection using desiccant chambers to mitigate any humidity fluctuations.” Fire protection is critical, especially as water can be more damaging than fire itself. Great lengths were taken to keep water out of the collections area and use it strategically if necessary. Because there are no ceiling penetrations, there is no path for water to penetrate into the collections. In addition to sophisticated fire suppression systems, a VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Alert) pre-combustion alerting system is being installed. VESDA continuously samples air from protected areas and analyzes it for smoke particles. Potential and real fires can be immediately identified, and combustion suppressed at its earliest phase. The collection level, where those items that are not on display are stored, is isolated from the top four floors. The “backstage” area includes art racking, an expandable Spacesaver system to accommodate very tiny to very bulky artifacts, a large loading dock and freight elevator, processing and preservation labs to care for the collection, and a space to prepare collection items to be packaged and shared with other institutions. The design team engaged Preservation Specialist Randy Silverman from the University of Utah Marriott Library to ensure the integrity of the standards PROJECT North Capitol Building, Museum of Utah PHASE 100 SD DATE April 2022 22 Utah Traditions: View of Gallery Utah Traditions This artifact-rich gallery interprets the many ways Utahns express their identities and communities. Large artifact cases allow for the state’s collection of cultural items to be displayed and easily updated. Overhead banners highlight the artists, dancers, craftspeople, community members, and others who bring these traditions to life. Audiovisual interactives support these themes. A touchtable focused on Utah’s foodways allows visitors to build and share a meal that is important to them or their community. At this multi-user touchtable, visitors can create and share a meal that is meaningful to them. They can also see meals that have been shared by other visitors. Utah Traditions This artifact-rich gallery interprets the many ways Utahns express their identities and communities. Large artifact cases allow for the state’s collection of cultural items 24 REFLEXION
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