Penn Museum Projects
The Middle East Galleries at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia represented the first phase of the most significant redevelopment of the Museum in over 100 years. hsd were appointed by the Penn Museum to deliver the redevelopment of the Middle East Galleries.
The interpretative and design principles established by hsd were robust and enduring; and helped create a world-class display environment for Penn’s significant Middle Eastern collections.
Sphinx Entrance Hall
Situated in the museum’s reconfigured main entrance hall, which welcomes and connects visitors to the adjacent gallery spaces. This gallery, is part of the ongoing revitalisation of the museum to better target diverse audiences.
At the center of the new gallery is a 25,000-pound Sphinx of Ramses II, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The new space explores the eastern Mediterranean as a hub of ideas, art, technologies, and empires while spotlighting a greater number of unique objects and architectural monuments excavated by the Penn Museum, as well as allowing visitors to orient themselves on entering the museum space.
Ancient Egypt and Nubia Galleries
Following our successful delivery of Penn Museum’s new Middle East Galleries and Sphinx Gallery, hsd is delighted to be continuing our work with the Museum as lead exhibit designers for the revitalisation of their signature Ancient Egypt and Nubia Galleries.
These new galleries are the final components of the Museum’s ‘Building Transformation’ project, a major revitalisation of the historic institution designed to open up its collection and programming to a larger public, as opposed to a purely academic, audience.
Project Scope
- Interpretive Planning
- Content Development and Management
- Exhibit and Experience Design
- Graphic Design and Artwork
- Project Management and Construction Administration
- Fund Raising Visualisation