Maritime Museum : Waukegan, Illinois

Awarded the Perkins + Will Scholarship, Spring 2007

This Maritime Museum, located in Waukegan, is situated directly along the harbor. Being sited on a prime waterfront property, it allows for a unique opportunity to give the museum an experiential quality by making marine life a part of the museum experience. The museum opens itself to the habor, and becomes a hub from which people can actively engage in waterfront life.

Buried in the landscape, the museum becomes a seamless connection between land, community, and harbor life.

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The museum offers dozens of docks for rental by recreational boaters. For those who are interested in renovating their boats, a number of workshop spaces are publicly available and are conveniently located adjacent to the conservation area where tools and knowledge can be shared.
The conservation area is where boats are continually being renovated. This area is visible from several places, one being outside from along the waterfront path, and also from inside on the mezanine level (shown below).

1st Floor

2nd Floor

The pedestrian path along the harbor ramps upwards to become the stage from which pedestrians and patrons can observe activity on the harbor.