South Carolina State Museum

Gilbane team delivers seamless construction while maintaining open operations to the public

The scope of work involved the construction of a new 22,000-SF, 150-seat digital dome planetarium addition to the existing historic building. Gilbane proactively worked with museum staff, designers, and stakeholders to optimize the project program, budget, schedule, and phasing of construction.

Project Overview

Conversion of the existing theater into the State’s first 4-D interactive theater
Structural retro-fit of the main entrance which created a signature three-story atrium capped with a new observatory dome e housing the museum’s 1926 Alvan Clark 12-3/8” refracting telescope
Exterior plaza, a streetscape, and site improvements as well as additional structural modifications
Renovations to 48,000 SF of the museum’s interior spaces which included the first and second floor lobbies, cultural partner exhibits, special collections exhibits, the ticketing area, gift shop, café, audio/visual equipped conference rooms, and new offices for the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation

“Multifaceted project with a lot of integration of components delivered by the owner (IT and FFE), 4D Theater (Iwerks) and Planetarium (E&S). Also, the building is operated by another state agency (B&CB) and has another 400-person tenant (DHEC). All that coordination was difficult and political and the leadership at Gilbane handled it all very well.”
William Calloway
Former State Museum Executive Director
South Carolina State Museum

Quick Stats

Client:
- South Carolina State Museum
Location: Columbia, SC
Architect:
- Clark Patterson Lee
Size: 70,000 SF
Awards:
- Architects (AIA) South Carolina Chapter, Honor Award
- Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) South Atlantic Chapter , Project Achievement Award
- Historic Columbia, Preservation Project Award
- State of South Carolina, Governor’s Cup Award