Borrowing Jekyll Island’s History for a New Museum Concept
It’s not often that Lorenc+Yoo is able to participate in design projects close to our Atlanta area home. This made the concept design for the Jekyll Island Museum a particularly special experience.
Originally a site of Native American habitation and later a European colonial settlement and fort, by the 20thcentury, Jekyll Island had become a beach refuge for the wealthy and the site of one of the most important conferences on U.S. monetary policy. Now a state-operated nature preserve, Jekyll Island’s history is wide-ranging, complex, and important.
Lorenc+Yoo, with partners 5G Design, participated in concept design for the museum’s renovation into a competition, proposing a transformation of a rustic colonial-era barn into an open floorplan with modern accents. Anchored by the original brick fireplaces and chimneys, the concept features bold typography and tall glass exhibit cases that reach the underside of the shingled roof. Bare concrete flooring and large ceiling fans aid in creating the illusion of an environment from another era. The intention was to retain the horse barn’s historic fabric while adding a more contemporary series of exhibition panels and cases.
