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Verner Johnson, Inc.

Verner Johnson, Inc. As the only architectural firm in the country specializing exclusively in the planning and design of

Unsurpassed Experience

For more than thirty-five years, Verner Johnson, Inc. has been helping our clients plan and design innovative and successful museums. With more than 200 projects in our portfolio, we have planned or designed more museums than any other architectural firm. Our projects have included every type of museum, and have ranged in size from 7,500 to 1,250,000 square feet. Our intern

ational work includes projects in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Dubai, New Zealand, South America, and the Caribbean, with clients including the Smithsonian Institution, for whom we provided planning and design services for over 20 years, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the Urban Council in Hong Kong. Recently, we have pursued several museum projects in India and Turkey. A History of Innovation

The breadth and depth of our experience has given us a detailed understanding about how museums really work. We apply this constantly evolving knowledge to the planning and design of each new project and have consistently helped our clients achieve innovative solutions to the issues they face. Consequently, many of the museums that we have planned and designed are among the most successful and highly attended in the world. With projects in our portfolio ranging from expansion projects for regional museums to a complete reorganization plan for the Louvre Museum in Paris, our museum expertise is recognized around the world. Our Staff

Our careers are dedicated to serving the needs of museums. We maintain our staff size at approximately 10 professionals in our Boston office and 8 employees in our Istanbul location. This allows our Principals to be thoroughly involved in each project throughout all phases. We are large enough to handle any size museum project, but small enough to provide personalized service. Our turnover rate has been extremely low, resulting in a highly experienced professional staff with an average of 16 years of museum experience. Within our firm, museological specializations include areas such as collections storage and care, exhibition lighting, living exhibits, large format theaters, and media and technology. Harvard and MIT Connection

Currently, four of our key staff members have received their Masters degrees from Harvard University and one has received a degree from MIT.

Operating as usual

VJI has been selected as one of the 13 finalists out of 66 submissions for a new art museum in Beirut, Lebanon!
04/28/2016

VJI has been selected as one of the 13 finalists out of 66 submissions for a new art museum in Beirut, Lebanon!

Jonathan Kharfen of VernerJohnson will be speaking about the story behind the design process of Museum at Prairiefire on...
04/22/2016

Jonathan Kharfen of VernerJohnson will be speaking about the story behind the design process of Museum at Prairiefire on April 25th for Science Happy Hour. Read more about the event and purchase tickets here!

http://museumatpf.org/event-list/

We're happy to present our new website, where you will find our newly announced work and updated information on our curr...
02/19/2016

We're happy to present our new website, where you will find our newly announced work and updated information on our current and recent projects. We hope you find our new look to be more dynamic and easy to use!

http://vernerjohnson.com/

11/13/2015

Congratulations to Lian Davis of Verner Johnson, Inc. on winning the Emerging Designer Alumni Award from the Boston Architectural College! See Lian's recognition and the other awards here.

http://the-bac.edu/alumni/alumni-awards

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/05/alabama_firefighters_museum_hi.htmlExciting news! Verner Johnson has...
05/28/2015
Alabama Firefighters Museum hiring architect to create facility's comprehensive plan

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/05/alabama_firefighters_museum_hi.html

Exciting news! Verner Johnson has been hired as the architect for the Alabama Firefighters Museum facility's comprehensive plan!

The Shelby County Commission on Tuesday night approved a $90,000 payment to the Alabama Firefighters Museum and Education Center Foundation aimed at helping in the development of the new institution in Calera. The Shelby County Commission approved the $90,000 in...

Bollywood Museum, featured today in both the Times of India and the Mumbai Mirror, is to be "put on the fast-track"! Gov...
04/21/2015

Bollywood Museum, featured today in both the Times of India and the Mumbai Mirror, is to be "put on the fast-track"!

Government officials met and discussed the importance of this museum to the city of Mumbai and are working to move forward with the project. Read more here!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Rs-150-cr-Bwood-museum-plan-put-on-fast-track/articleshow/46996572.cms

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Rs-150-cr-Bollywood-museum-put-on-fast-track/articleshow/46993765.cms

Museum at Prairiefire recently received the judges' choice award through the Associated General Contractors of Kansas in...
02/24/2015
Museum at Prairiefire captures top honors at Associated General Contractors of Kansas convention...

Museum at Prairiefire recently received the judges' choice award through the Associated General Contractors of Kansas in the annual building awards competition!

http://m.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2015/01/30/slideshowverland-park-museum-captures-top-honors.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2015-01-30&u=vTqD7tXNGYSO1qd+P85ktz6Sjnj&t=1422653155&r=full

You can swipe to read the next article. Swipe Swipe Friday, January 30, 2015, 2:15pm CST Slideshow: Overland Park museum captures top honors at contractors' convention in Wichita Josh Heck Wichita Business Journal View Slideshow Judges' Choice: Museum at Prairiefire Category: New construction - over…

The National Infantry Museum has been featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, being called "one of America's hidden ...
02/03/2015
Georgia's hidden national treasure: The National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center (SLIDESHOW)...

The National Infantry Museum has been featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, being called "one of America's hidden national treasures."

http://m.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/01/21/an-inside-look-at-georgias-hidden-national.html?ana=e_du_pap&s=article_du&ed=2015-01-21&u=rzDa+qZFxFtONpaFCeJA+g0b770e5e&t=1421967903&r=full

You can swipe to read the next article. Swipe Swipe Wednesday, January 21, 2015, 1:51pm EST Georgia's hidden national treasure: The National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center (SLIDESHOW) Phil W. Hudson Atlanta Business Chronicle Fort Benning, also known as the Home of the Infantry, is also the home o…

Great Lakes Science Center will be showing the film "Interstellar" starting today at 6pm! "Thursday screenings will fea...
01/15/2015
Great Lakes Science Center - -OMNIMAX

Great Lakes Science Center will be showing the film "Interstellar" starting today at 6pm! "Thursday screenings will feature an introduction and Q&A session afterwards from a local scientist on a science topic related to the film." Today's speaker will be Dr. George R. Schmidt, Chief of Propulsion Division at NASA Glenn Research Center, discussing Thoughts on the Engineering and Science of Interstellar. Get your tickets now at the box office or online (link below)!

http://www.museumtix.com/program/program.aspx?vid=803&pid=5195145&pvt=glsc

http://tampabayhistorycenter.org/event/florida-conversations-300-years-piracy-western-hemisphere/Hear historical artist ...
01/08/2015
Florida Conversations: Rick Reeves - The Making of the Pirate Image NEW SPEAKER! - Tampa Bay...

http://tampabayhistorycenter.org/event/florida-conversations-300-years-piracy-western-hemisphere/

Hear historical artist Rick Reeves speak about pirate imagery at the Tampa Bay History on January 14th, 6-7pm! It is free to the public and works well as an introduction to "The Art of Piracy: Pirates in Modern Culture" exhibition, opening on January 24th!

Pirates have been around as long as there have been boats. They ruled the Mediterranean Sea before the pharaohs ruled Egypt or even thought about building the pyramids. Julius Caesar was captured by them and held for ransom. Yet, contrary to either current belief or Hollywood hype, they did play an…

"PLAY with animals in a realistic habitat at the Stream. OBSERVE the sights and sounds of the Meadow. PRETEND to be an e...
12/16/2014
Flint Hills Discovery Center : Temporary Exhibits

"PLAY with animals in a realistic habitat at the Stream. OBSERVE the sights and sounds of the Meadow. PRETEND to be an eagle, chipmunk and raccoon in the Woods. EXPLORE the unfamiliar environment of the cave. INVESTIGATE specimens from the natural world in the Naturalists' Tent."

http://www.flinthillsdiscovery.org/exhibits/temporary-exhibits

Be sure to check out the "Animal Secrets" exhibit at Flint Hills Discovery Center before it closes on January 14th!

The Flint Hills Discovery Center provides an educational experience for the entire family. Visit the museum if you are passing through the Manhattan, Kansas area.

Exciting event coming up at Discovery Park of America on January 10th!
12/16/2014

Exciting event coming up at Discovery Park of America on January 10th!

Overland Park, KansasRole: Architect & Museum Planner for New Museum, Led team of Engineers and Museum SpecialistsClient...
11/18/2014

Overland Park, Kansas

Role: Architect & Museum Planner for New Museum, Led team of Engineers and Museum Specialists

Client: Merrill Companies, LLC

Program: Changing exhibition gallery, children's discovery room, lobby, cafe, gift shop, function space, classrooms, exhibit support, and offices

Building Area: 41,000 sf

Status: Opened in Spring of 2014

LEED Siver anticipated

Description: The building concept is designed to reflect the imagery of the tallgrass prairie, including one of its most unique aspects: the prairie fire burns. The expansive lobby is enclosed by ‘lines of fire’, facetted vertical planes composed of tinted vision glazing, dichroic glass, and iridescent stainless steel panels, set in a composition invoking flames. The dichroic glass and iridescent stainless steel are color shifting depending on the viewing, creating a vibrant animated glow of color around the building. The lobby connects two building wings set at angles in the site to create a plaza at the northeast entry side and protected terraces at the west park side. These wings are stone clad with contoured parapets evoking the softly curving sculpted hills of the prairie. The stratified stone forms a gradient, from darker ‘charred’ stone at the base, to near white stone at the parapet. The entry plaza and park side terraces are paved in dark stone and edged in dichroic illuminated with LED lighting to recall the singed ground and fire lines seen during the prairie burns.

Visitors enter a tall, colorful lobby space, accessible on two levels, with natural light streaming through the perimeter tinted and dichroic glass. From the lobby, visitors can explore the AMNH changing exhibits and the T-Rex exhibit located near the main entrance. They can wind their way from the north side of the lobby to the south side facing the wetlands, stopping at the Museum Gift Shop along the way, and ending at the Café, with park views. Across from the Store is the elevator and stair connecting to the second floor. Visitors arrive on a sculpted bridge connecting the two main building volumes. The bridge leads to the Discovery Room, which opens to a cantilevered stone balcony facing the park, providing a unique contained educational outdoor space for children. The opposite direction from the bridge leads to dividable Classrooms and restrooms, and access to the Administrative Offices. The Classrooms and Offices open to the east onto a green roof terrace, which can provide further opportunities for educational exhibits or programs.

http://vernerjohnson.com/portfolio/projects/Prairiefire.html

Columbia, SCRole: Museum Planner and Conceptual Designer for Museum Renovations; Led team of specialist museum consultan...
11/18/2014

Columbia, SC

Role: Museum Planner and Conceptual Designer for Museum Renovations; Led team of specialist museum consultants;

Program: Art galleries, collection storage, auditorium, library, lobby, cafe, gift shop, function spaces, classrooms, exhibit support, and offices

Building Area: 130,000 sf

Status: In fundraising stage, scheduled to begin construction in 2015

Description: Verner Johnson, along with museum gallery and lighting designers George Sexton Associates, audience evaluator Kathleen Tinworth, and economic sustainability analyst Elaine Carmichael, worked with the Columbia Museum of Art to develop a Comprehensive Master Plan that addresses issues of financial sustainability and facility functionality. The Plan, which was driven by institutional needs and goals, visitor surveys and stakeholder interviews, presents strategies to attract visitors and improve their experience, highlight and engage the collection, expand the successful educational program, enhance event/rental opportunities, and increase revenue streams to improve overall financial health.

The phased Plan seeks to engage Main Street with a new entrance, banners, clear glass, the expansion of the Museum shop and the addition of a cafe, which extends to the sidewalk and terrace with exterior seating. The visitor experience will be improved with better wayfinding, including a new open stair that places visitors at the entrance to the second floor permanent galleries. Gallery space will be expanded, allowing for flexibility and multiple shows in the temporary galleries and display of more of the collection in the permanent galleries. The library, auditorium and educational programming will be expanded and relocated to the lower level opening the first floor for gallery, retail and event functions. Dedicated event space will be added on the first and second floors providing the opportunity for simultaneous events and increased revenue. By completing the Plan in phases rather than all at once, the Museum will be able to fulfill its goals and manage its capital resources while minimizing operational disruption.

http://vernerjohnson.com/portfolio/projects/CMA.html

Union City, TennesseeRole: Architect & Museum Planner for New Museum; Led team of engineers and specialist consultants; ...
11/17/2014

Union City, Tennessee

Role: Architect & Museum Planner for New Museum; Led team of engineers and specialist consultants; Lead team of Exhibit Designers (Thinc Design) and Fabricators (Maltbie)

Program: Interactive science, history and art exhibits (60,000 sf), theaters, lobby, cafe, gift shop, function space, classrooms, exhibit support, and offices

Building Area: 100,000 sf

Status: Opened in November of 2013

Description: Located in a lush 50-acre park at the edge of a small rural town in western Tennessee, the new Discovery Center has become a landmark that is completely unexpected in its context. Its white curving forms and soaring tower can be seen from miles away in the flat farmlands that surround it, especially when illuminated at night.

The 200-foot tall observation tower offers a unique perspective from within the Museum to the world beyond the region, inspiring visitors to “look beyond” the constraints of their own lives to what is possible. With its multi-story atriums filled with dinosaurs, airplanes and a giant climb-through fisherman sculpture, families feel both welcomed and engaged.

A curved glass oval-shaped space offer open vistas from the surrounding park into the exhibit atrium. Designed using flowing organic curves silhouetted against the blue sky and green park space, the architecture takes on many playful and mysterious connotations that suggest a place filled with adventure and exploration.

This new educational and entertainment complex offers learning and recreational experiences rarely available outside of urban areas. The Center’s nine exhibition galleries interpret topics as diverse as natural history, regional history, space science, alternative energy, military history, and Native American cultures. Signature exhibits include an earthquake simulator, an interactive starship, and a secret vault that houses treasures from around the globe. A children’s exploration area features a giant climb-through human body, water play, and building block activities.

http://vernerjohnson.com/portfolio/projects/DPA.html

Cambridge, MARole: Architect & Museum Planner for Renovated and Expanded Museum; led team of engineers and specialist co...
11/17/2014

Cambridge, MA

Role: Architect & Museum Planner for Renovated and Expanded Museum; led team of engineers and specialist consultants

Program: Interactive science, history and art exhibits, lobby, cafe, gift shop, collections storage, classrooms, function spaces, support and offices

Status: Opened in phases: 2007 & 2012

Description: The MIT Museum presented several particularly complex challenges. The existing warehouse building suffered from serious humidity and temperature control issues, poor collection storage areas, a limited amount of exhibit space, and a minimal connection to street level. Working closely with the Museum staff, we established a multi-phase strategy which allows the Museum to develop and expand their building as funding becomes available. The first phase of work created an inviting exhibit space on the street level, and established a strong presence on the street by opening up the facade with large windows. This exhibit space meets MIT's specific needs as flexible multi-use space, incorporating a multimedia presentation area, changing exhibit gallery, a new entry and ticket area, and a relocated and newly designed museum store. The Museum saw a 50% growth in attendance and a 400% growth in retail sales once this phase was complete.

This allowed funding to be available for Phase II, a 150 year anniversary gallery on the second floor, and Phase III, a new photography gallery in a portion of the building located within an un-insulated solid masonry envelope. To achieve the required museum standard climate control for photography, VernerJohnson developed a unique and cost effective "superwall" enclosure within the existing structure that allows temperature and humidity control within the space but enables the exterior wall to breathe and not suffer any damage.

http://vernerjohnson.com/portfolio/projects/MIT.html

Address

141 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA
02114

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

(617) 437-6262

Website

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"A major objective of the design is to maximize the experience of the landscape, thereby symbolizing the experience of a golfer with the outdoor environment. Outdoor spaces flow uninterrupted through the center of the facility, making it possible for visitors to walk through the complex without going indoors. This architectural device allows the building to function as the central gateway to World Golf Village." - Verner Johnson

Location: St. Augustine, FL
Architect: Verner Johnson, Inc.
Design Firm: Ralph Applebaum Associates
"The World Golf Hall of Fame is the feature of the 440-acre World Golf Village, and is at the head of a central lake that is also ringed by a major resort hotel and convention center, a complex of dining and retail stores, and the PGA TOUR’s media production headquarters. " - Verner Johnson

Location: St. Augustine, FL
Architect: Verner Johnson, Inc.
Design Firm: Ralph Applebaum Associates
Our May issue of FX is now out! Our colourful cover features the striking Museum at Prairiefire, Kansas, by Verner Johnson, Inc. as part of our public sector focus / Elsewhere in the magazine, we profile designer Jennifer Newman Studio, look at architects' DIY HQs, and projects include the Wildernesse Restaurant in Kent by Morris + Company

Subscribe at: https://www.buythatmag.com/product/fx-magazine/
Cutting-edge architectural design combined with premiere building products can create the unexpected. Take a look at this example in a kaleidoscope of fiery color at Overland Park, Kansas' Museum at Prairiefire. The new design showcases a tale of geology, culture and the practice of prairie landscape management through intentional burns. It's being called a marvel, and it is easy to see why. A stone-clad backdrop represents the nearby undulating hillside, alive with sparks of color. A unique film material and a bevy of stone colors represent the fire element. Natural limestone strategically unified with man-made Oldcastle Cordova veneer gives way to the stunning display. Shout-out to Oldcastle APG, Verner Johnson, Inc. and Echelon Masonry for creating the colors of culture.
Museum at Prairiefire
by Verner Johnson, Inc.
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Sojourner Truth license plate bill introduced in Michigan. http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2015/10/20/bizon-introduces-bill-sojourner-truth-license-plates/74269734/
Petersen Aluminum / PAC-CLAD Metal Roofing worked with Ralph Jones Sheet Metal to install its roofing products on a compelling sculptural design from Verner Johnson, Inc. a Tennessee museum that helps educate and inspire visitors
Great to connect with you at AAM! Looking forward to your posts!
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