The Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine is a beloved local institution that was planning a move to Thompson’s Point, a former brown-field site that had long supported light industry and the railroads, to build a larger and more accessible museum for all. With a less central location than its traditional home in the center of Portland, the Museum would be also using and programming an outdoor space for the first time, making the investment a high-stakes one for the institution.

​

LEMON BROOKE worked with Bruner Cott Architects and Hands On!, an exhibit design team, to help visualize the Museum’s integration of the riverside site into the fabric of the building’s form and the content of the exhibits. The brown-field nature of the soils meant that material from the site needed to stay on the site, with additional mitigation measures. The design features several large earth mounds planted with low-bush blueberry and native tree species, allowing the Museum to safely occupy the grounds for future community and learning events.

 

 

​

CREDITS

Client:                                               Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine

Design Landscape Architect:       LEMON BROOKE

Architect:                                         Bruner Cott and Associates

Exhibit Design:                                Hands ON!

Completed:                                     2021