5 Firms Present Concepts for US Naval Museum

The conceptual renderings for the new National Museum of the United States Navy (NMUSN) were unveiled recently at the museum's current home in the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC. Plans for a new NMUSN were announced in October 2020, and last October the Secretary of the Navy announced the preferred location: six acres of land to be obtained next to the Navy Yard.

Last fall's announcement pointed to the museum's overarching goal: “to offer the general public unfettered access to U.S. Navy history and heritage.” The new museum could involve the renovation of existing buildings as well as new construction, and it anticipated to be 270,000 square feet (25,000 m2) total, with 100,000 sf (9,300 m2) devoted to exhibition spaces.

The competition was announced in December, with 80 firms expressing interest, 37 of them subsequently submitting qualifications, and five architecture firms selected by the Navy as finalists: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, DLR Group, Gehry Partners, Perkins&Will, and Quinn Evans. The finalists were then asked to develop concepts “to include a museum entrance, an atrium, a ceremonial courtyard, and the incorporation of some of the Navy’s larger artifacts, like a Corsair aircraft, a Swift Boat, and the sail of a submarine,” per the announcement of the unveiling of the designs.

Although Charles Swift, Acting Director of the Museum of the United States Navy, said "these ideas and concepts show what might be possible for a new museum," they are far from final. The competition — described explicitly as an “artistic ideas competition” — is the start of a process that now invites input from the public, be it in person at the current museum, on the US Navy's Facebook page, or via email (details are in the above link). Renderings of the finalists are below, in alphabetical order by firm name.