Jane Goodall Museum and Environmental Center

Schematic Design prepared for Jane Goodall Museum. Currently the project is in the Fundraising stage, the Museum will commemorate the life work of Goodall and will have a large section dedicated to her groundbreaking study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees which began in 1960 at the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.

The design will envelope the visitor in an environment honoring nature before even entering the building as well as throughout the visitor’s time in the museum. The building entrance would be articulated with an extensive application of plant walls complemented by plant and tree species from or similar to those at Gombe. Upon entering the building, all spaces would be ordered around and oriented towards a courtyard of plants and trees evocative of the Gombe environment. The natural environment representing where Dr. Jane’s work took place would always be a reference point to the visitor, whether interacting with displays in the gallery spaces or any other activity in the building. Visitors would be able to access the outdoor nature courtyard itself to experience the natural environment or use a quiet contemplation, meditation space where only the beauty of the natural sky would be visible.
The building would harvest and store rainwater in large storage tanks visible from many areas of the building interior or exterior as well as employ a large solar array integrated into the design and intentionally visible throughout the facility (so that visitors can witness a visual example of sustainable architecture). In addition, sustainable materials that are meant to reference those used in the region would include natural bamboo and finished bamboo. The design would comply with and satisfy the requirements of the American building sustainability system called, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Dr. Jane’s museum would be a stunning example of living in agreement with nature and supporting and honoring her commitment to environmental conservation.