The project is a centerpiece of the White River State Park museum complex and houses 70,000 sf of exhibit space, a restaurant and outdoor terrace, a 250-seat auditorium, and 75,000 sf of administrative and high-density storage space. The museum has two separate buildings separated by the Central Canal. The buildings are connected by a historical recreated Whipple truss bridge, symbolic of steel railroad trestles found throughout the state.

Architecturally, the massing of the museum building expresses conservative strength with a contrary spirit, leading to a very complex structural grid. Much of the steel in the large atrium spaces remains exposed in tribute to Indiana's industrialism. A cast-in-place reinforced concrete frame was selected for the administrative and storage space. Careful consideration was given to the cladding back-up systems, which span as much as 100' vertically for some of the glass walls and painstaking attention to detail was given to the built-up Whipple truss bridge.

Project Details: Size 230,000 GSF | Project Completion 2003