UBC EOAS Pacific Museum of the Earth

The interior renovations to the UBC Pacific Museum of the Earth at the Ground Floor Lobby of the UBC Faculty of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences was designed to address the functional and aesthetic needs of the expanding faculty within the context of the unique existing building. The museum and lobby areas acted as both an artifact display andas a teaching space and therefore had multiple program requirements. The enclosed ‘Vault’ area housing the gem collection was expanded and a dramatic globe projector display system was installed as an educational tool for museum visitors and students. The interior design resulted in response to these functional requirements and to a notion that by modernizing the older building, integrating it with the existing architecture of newer adjacent science facilities, new and old would be combined to give a unique and inspiring aesthetic. The interior carpet floor finish was removed and the resulting exposed concrete was refurbished. Wood ceiling panels and bright wall colours were installed together with dramatic lighting appropriate to museum display requirements. Certain elements of various individual design changes to the building over the years were retained and a new design emerged to give the ground floor of the faculty a cohesive and exciting new edge.