Ohio Veterans Memorial and Museum

Set to open in 2016, the Ohio Veterans Memorial and Museum is conceived by Allied Works Architecture as an architecture of two acts. The first is an act of landscape, where the surrounding parkland is cut, carved and lifted into the sky, creating a processional path to the sanctuary, a place of ceremony, celebration and reflection—a civic room for the city of Columbus. The second is an act of structure, where a series of concentric arches rise from the earth to hold the sanctuary above. These bands of interwoven concrete hold and protect the museum and its occupants within, creating a labyrinthine journey of exhibitions that illuminate ideas of service, duty and remembrance.

Located at the intersection of the new Scioto riverfront park and Broad Street, the 53,000sf museum houses exhibitions and artifacts that serve as a testimonial to the 250 years of military service of Ohio Veterans. The building provides a variety of education and interpretive spaces. The main level houses a great hall, museum store, and café for public events. Also on the main level is the primary gallery space, culminating in an interactive cyclorama reflecting on the history of service in Ohio. The lower floor contains support, presentation and education spaces, as well as a temporary exhibition space. A private remembrance hall is located on the upper level, adjacent to the exterior sanctuary space, which is approached by a sweeping ramp. This exterior civic room serves as a ceremonial and memorial space for the community at large.

Additionally, Allied Works Architecture has been commissioned by the University of Hawaii to develop a conceptual design as part of a bid to secure Honolulu as the future site of the Barack Obama Presidential Center.

The Presidential Center amplifies the forces of its site to form spaces of protection and connection. A continuous meandering roof creates dynamic forms of structure and light, providing shelter for a chain of interior and exterior terraced landscape courts below. These elements tether the Center to the surrounding city and parkland, while gathering together the many constituencies the center serves - school children, scholars, local residents, and visiting dignitaries.