Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership

Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Image 2 of 10Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Image 3 of 10Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - FacadeMuzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Image 5 of 10Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - More Images+ 5

Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Design Principal: Jo Ann Secor
  • Project Architect: Larry Sassi, AIA
  • Project Manager: Scott Briggs, AIA
  • Lhsa+Dp Project Team: Lee H. Skolnick, FAIA
  • Managing Principal: Scott Briggs, AIA; Larry Sassi, AIA; Ted Klingensmith
  • Exhibit Design/Interpretive Team: Lee H. Skolnick
  • Director Of Museum Services: Scott Briggs, Christina Ferwerda, Yun Chu Chou, Curt Meissner, Jethro Rebollar, Tugce Zaloglu
  • Graphic Design Team: Christina Lyons, Dan Ownbey, Alyssa Liegel, Daphne Smith
  • Exhibit Consultant: Paul Orselli
  • Associate Architect: A&A Architects
  • Structural Engineer: Strukto, BIPAK, Ltd.
  • Mep/Fp Engineer: Termoklima, Dikras
  • Landscape Architect: Studio Gurkov
  • Lighting Designer: Available Light, Nikan Bulgaria
  • Interior Designer: LHSA+DP
  • Contractor: Bigla III Ltd.
  • Constr Manager: Bigla III Ltd.
  • Leed Consultant: Triple Green Building Group LLC, Green Building Group LLC
  • Acoustical Design : Jaffe Holden
  • Drawings & Plans : Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership
  • City: Sofia
  • Country: Bulgaria
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Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Facade
© Roland Halbe

Muzeiko, located in Bulgaria’s capital city of Sofia, is the first children’s museum to be built in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. Representing the culmination of Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership’s decades of experience with museum and exhibition design, it is also the culmination of the firm's collaboration with its client, the America for Bulgaria Foundation.

Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Image 5 of 10
© Roland Halbe

Organized conceptually as a journey moving through time and space, visitors can explore three levels of exhibits in the 35,000-square-foot (3,250 m2) LEED Gold facility. On the lowest level, children explore “The Past” through exhibits interpreting archaeology, geology and paleontology.

Ground Floor Plan

The ground floor is “The Present,” represented by hands-on exhibits about the natural environment and contemporary cities. The top floor is dedicated to “The Future” with interactive exhibitions exploring cutting-edge technologies and space travel. Interactivity also extends to the site, which includes a science playground, a green roof and rooftop climbing wall, a rain garden, outdoor activity space and an amphitheater. 

Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Image 2 of 10
© Roland Halbe

The museum’s architectural theme, “Little Mountains,” is an allusion to Bulgaria’s mountainous topography. The structure’s glass volume is interrupted by three sculptural forms, or mountains, each referencing through its color scheme and texture indigenous craft traditions in the country.

First Floor Plan

One mountainous form features abstracted patterns inspired by textiles and embroidery, another by glazed ceramics, and the third by traditional wood carving. The museum utilizes large areas of glass to reveal the interior and creating the feeling of openness and transparency about the activity inside, in contrast with most Bulgarian museums that appear imposing and monumental.

Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center  / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership  - Facade
© Roland Halbe

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Project location

Address:Sofia, Bulgaria

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Muzeiko Children's Science Discovery Center / Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership " 28 Nov 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/777845/muzeiko-childrens-science-discovery-center-lee-h-skolnick-architecture-plus-design-partnership> ISSN 0719-8884

© Roland Halbe

Muzeiko儿童科学探索中心 / Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership

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