Utah Field House Museum of Natural History
Development of “Fossil Journey” at the new Utah Field House Museum of Natural History allowed for 9,000sf of theater and exhibits on the main floor and an additional 2,500sf on the mezzanine. Jan Coleman laid out the exhibits and storyline for both floors, established the construction methods and selected colors and materials to coordinate with the graphic designer’s work.
Conceived as a record of how a fossil is found, collected, moved, stored and displayed, the story begins within the Theater where a truck waits to return the latest find to the Field House. Filing out through a canyon Dig Site, the audience emerges at the Field House interactive “Fossil Lab” to help clean specimens, then moves into the main galleries to see cleaned specimens displayed as articulated dinosaurs or Eocene mammals. Exiting the main galleries through an Eocene Diorama, visitors explore the rock strata that makes Vernal so exceptional.
Diplodocus at lobby of “Fossil Journey”. Photo Courtesy AJC Architects.
Plan view of 9,000sf main floor exhibits. Photo Courtesy AJC Architects.
Entry to recreated fossil dig site. Photo Courtesy AJC Architects.
Interactive Fossil Lab demonstrates how fossils are prepared for research and exhibition.
Children dig to reveal hidden dinosaur fossils at the Fossil Lab. Photo Courtesy AJC Architects.
Detail of Jurassic Gallery with locally-collected dinosaur specimens. Photo Courtesy AJC Architects.
Detail of Eocene Gallery with fossil-tiled wall. Photo Courtesy AJC Architects.
