Full STEAM Ahead
PROJECT
Regional Museum of
Southwest Florida
LOCATION
Fort Myers, Florida
SIZE
27,500 SF Renovation
22,000 SF New Construction
COMPONENTS
Expansion of exhibit space and outdoor learning environments, urban farm, conference
Team Leader
Zach Benedict
AIA, LEED AP, Principal
A regional science center is redefining how STEAM can not only enrich our children’s education, but how it can also serve as a model for neighborhood redevelopment.
Cultural history is often the account of science and technology. The stories complement each other, due to the fact that history and science are simply two different lenses to understand the world around us. The expanded Regional Museum of Southwest Florida is designed to tell that story.
MKM assisted the existing Imaginarium Science Center and Southwest Florida Museum of History explore how their willingness to combine their organizations would provide an opportunity to reconsider the services and experiences they could provide the community. Through a series of visioning workshops MKM helped create a unified vision for a revitalized campus, serving as the gateway to downtown Fort Myers, FL. The new campus strives to engage a neighborhood embarking on a renaissance and utilizing their advocacy for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) as a mechanism for urban renewal. The combination of these two organizations into one campus creates a highly interactive experience, which in turn, becomes a symbol of innovation for the city and the region.