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The Nordic Heritage Museum is the only museum and cultural center in the U.S. that celebrates all of the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. It is an internationally recognized museum and cultural center. Since its founding in 1980 it has operated from its current location in an old Seattle school building in NW Ballard. Budgeted at just under fifty-four million dollars, the new three-story, fifty-seven thousand square foot Nordic Heritage Museum will house more than seventy-seven thousand artifacts. The museum is designed around the linear Fjord Hall, with its faceted walls, that are intended to direct visitors in to the exhibits, and weave together stories of the Nordic Region and the Nordic American Experience. Learn more about the museum here.
WPI’s PNRCC Carpenters and District 5 Council Tapers persevered through numerous obstacles to produce The Nordic Heritage Museums and Mithun Architectural Firms vision. The first challenge encountered was layout, framing, and hanging the thirty-nine foot high faceted Fjord Hall walls. The studs massive heights and canted angles of the framing required a close attention to detail in order to ensure perfect alignment and shape. Another challenging aspect to this project was how best to provide the Level 5 finish on the North side of the Fjord Hall. Due to the multi directional lighting, including the three hundred foot long skylight directly above the North Fjord Hall Wall, the eleven thousand square feet of Level 5 finish posed quite a procedural hurdle. After consultation from the NWCB, WPI tapers produced a top notch level 5 finish that was extremely pleasing to the design team.
For the Nordic Heritage Museum Foundation, the culmination of this project completes years of fund raising and planning. The Nordic Heritage Museum project was committed from the start to innovation and sustainability, achieving a LEED Silver certification.
WPI found it an honor working alongside of the Nordic Heritage Museum Foundation, Kirtley Cole Associates LLC, and Mithun Architects on this unique and eye-catching project that will be a part of the Seattle community for generations to come.
Scopes: BIM, light-gauge metal framing, exterior metal framing, drywall, air & weather barrier.
