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The exhibits at the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., will make visitors feel as though they are retracing the steps of Marines on the battlefield, experiencing the rigors of boot camp and traversing the sea on an 800-ft.-long amphibious support ship.
That's no surprise, given that some of its designers lived it.
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The first phase of the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., includes approximately 115,000 sq. ft. of space that will comprise two-thirds of the pie-shaped building. Future plans call for a 65,000-sq.-ft. addition that will house 11,000 sq. ft. of office space, an 11,000-sq.-ft. theater and 43,000 sq. ft. of additional exhibit space.
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A small team from the Denver architecture firm of Fentress Bradburn and the Boston exhibit design firm Christopher Chadbourne and Associates joined retired Marine Col. Joseph Long, the museum's deputy director, for a 3.5-week-long, worldwide tour of historic battlefields and modern-day Marine Corps activities to learn from experience what the 230-year-old branch of the U.S. armed services is all about.
"I decided it would be important to try to turn [the key members of the design team] into Marines as much as I could," said Long, a retired Marine reservist who fought in Vietnam and is heading up the $80 million joint effort between the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and the Marine Corps.
"Part of my responsibility is to make this a world-class museum. We felt it would be worth the investment to make sure the people designing it really knew who we were."
The team visited sites of important historic battles, including Iwo Jima, Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Belleau Wood, and also spent three days aboard a ship off the coast of Camp Lejeune, N.C. They slept in troops' quarters and experienced the life of enlisted Marines.
The team also participated in a week of boot camp activities at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
The intense, hands-on experiences helped the designers understand the Marine identity. Next, their job was to create interactive exhibits.
In the Vietnam War gallery, for example, visitors will walk off the back end of a helicopter and find themselves in the middle of a lifelike battle zone, based on the designers' visit to Hill 881 South at the site of the fierce Battle of Khe Sanh.
A World War II immersion experience will recreate troops' landing on Iwo Jima, and visitors will be seated in a recreated landing craft heading ashore.
Construction of the museum is expected to be completed in May, with the facility opening to the public a year from now.
A Home of its Own The new museum will be the first-ever national museum that Marines can call their own. Located at the crest of a rolling hill near the front gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico, the structure and its commanding central atrium will be highly visible to passing cars on nearby Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1.
The circular-shaped structure with a steel atrium rising from its center will house exhibits of the Marine Corps' military actions throughout its history, said retired Brig. Gen. Jerry McKay, chief operating officer of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
The first phase of the project - approximately 115,000 sq. ft. of space that will comprise two-thirds of the pie-shaped building - will feature exhibits highlighting the Marines' involvement in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. A visual timeline will highlight the history of the Marines and also preview future exhibits that will feature the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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The 45-ft.-tall interior gallery walls - made of travertine stone and engraved in places - mirror the circular shape of the building's exterior, requiring slightly radiused stone panels.
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A Dramatic Centerpiece The steel atrium, or "cone," will have a 240-ft. spire running from the base of the building out its top. It borrows its design from the famous Flag Raisers at Iwo Jima image snapped by photographer Joe Rosenthal in 1945 during World War II.
Designed by Fentress Bradburn in a design competition, the centerpiece also incorporates overtones of cargo nets, aimed bayonets and the dramatic up-swoop of a fighter jet.
The team drew inspiration for the museum's design by immersing itself in the physical context and culture of the institution, said Brian Chaffee, principal in charge at the firm's Washington, D.C., office.
"What came out of that for us was a lot of images of the Marine Corps, how they fight and what they're all about," Chaffee said.
The three-sided cone is positioned over a central gallery of exhibit space. Its base begins where the top of the gallery ends - about 45 ft. above the floor - and tops out at about 100 ft. The spire protrudes about 50 ft. beyond the tip of the cone.
The atrium is constructed of straight structural steel rib beams radiating from a circular element, combined with long-span ridge beams representing raised bayonets, Chaffee added. The rib members rotate around the center, giving the illusion of a curved structure even though all pieces are straight. Framed glazing encloses the cone.
"There's a lot of visual interest there," Chaffee said. "It's an economical way to achieve a dramatic effect without having to use warped or bent glass."
The unconventional use of a tall skylight atrium atop a low-rise building necessitated sophisticated air-circulation studies, he said. With such a large volume of air stratifying in an unused space, it would not make economic sense to heat and cool the space.
Studies showed that warm summer temperatures would require significant venting, so designers made provisions for heat to escape from the top of the cone via a fan and controlled louvers.
Complex wind-tunnel studies were also performed on a scale model of the structure, said Jerry Rasgus, associate principal at structural engineering firm Weidlinger Associates' Washington, D.C., office, confirming engineer's expectations of the structure's behavior under strong gusts.
Putting Together the Pieces Matt Dye, project executive for Fairfax, Va.-based Centex Construction Co., the project's general contractor, said crews spent 13 weeks meticulously erecting the central atrium.
The 240-ft.-long spire - brought to the jobsite in three sections - was assembled onsite, followed by placement of five 175- to 182-ft.-long ridge beams on the south side and 16 rib beams on the east and west sides, ranging in length 16 to 113 ft.
Putting the central spire in place took several weeks of preparation and the creation of a detailed critical-lift plan, Dye said. Because the lift was made using two cranes, Centex's risk manager first created a scaled model so the tandem pick could be studied and practiced.
The lift went off without a hitch.
Construction of the central gallery below the atrium also has brought challenges. The 45-ft.-tall interior gallery walls - made of travertine stone and engraved in places - mirror the circular shape of the building's exterior, requiring slightly radiused stone panels.
Dye said he expects to begin installation of the Italian-manufactured panels this month.
In some areas, Centex crews are working hand-in-hand with the exhibit fabricator, Design and Productions Inc. of Lorton, Va. One unfinished exhibit space already houses four battle tanks that would have been too large to move into the space upon the museum's completion.
The tanks are protected in plywood boxes while electrical, mechanical and other trades complete their work. Then the exhibit contractor will take over and finish the space.
A Final Home Private fundraising efforts on behalf of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation brought $50 million to build the structure, and $30 million from the U.S. Marine Corps will be used to refurbish historical artifacts and construct the exhibits, McKay said.
Semper Fidelis Memorial Park - a four-acre wooded area with walkways and paths for reflection - is also being built. Its first phase will open when the museum opens.
The scope and timing of subsequent phases of the museum itself rely heavily on the success of fundraising efforts, McKay said. Plans call for a 65,000-sq.-ft. addition that will house 11,000 sq. ft. of office space, an 11,000-sq.-ft. theater and 43,000 sq. ft. of additional exhibit space.
McKay said he hopes the additional phases can proceed seamlessly once the initial phase is complete. The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation is anticipating private construction of a hotel/conference center on the site once an interested developer is secured, and the U.S. Marine Corps is also considering future construction of an additional building on the site to house artifacts and provide office space.
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