The design of the new Children’s Museum is based on three principles. First, the building will serve as one of the environmental exhibits and inform visitors how it works. Second, the spaces are based on dynamic sequences of movement, weaving interior and exterior. Third, the architecture will be of the landscape, appropriate for its park setting. Located at the east end of the San Fernando Valley, Hansen Dam is a 1400 acre flood control basin and park. It was the aim of the Museum that the exhibits at Hansen Dam be based on the environment.
The building systems are in large part interactive, often made of everyday materials used in non-traditional applications. Environmentally, the construction is based on radiant surfaces of high thermal mass, reducing heating and cooling requirements, and allowing rooftop planting.