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 "Creating Structural Works of Art" Blue Ridge Timberwrights   |
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The Museum of Shenandoah Valley - Virginia Newly opened in April 2005, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley tells the story of the art, history, and culture of the great valley for which it is named. Designed by the internationally recognized architectural firm of Michael Graves & Associates, the Museum joins Glen Burnie Historic House and Gardens to form a regional history museum complex in Winchester, Virginia. Blue Ridge Timberwrights worked closely with the architectural firm of Michael Graves & Associates and Hitt Contracting, Inc. to create timber frame structures and timber components in six different areas of the Museum. |
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Above left, Architect Michael Graves used a large wood trellis, constructed by Blue Ridge Timberwrights, and monumental brick columns to create the museum's ceremonial entrance.The first floor Reception Hall showcases a fifty-foot span interior timber frame complemented with custom lights, carpeting and maple trim. The Hall opens to a patio and timber trelliage offering a view of Glen Burnie Historic House and Gardens. The Shenandoah Valley Gallery, showcase of the museum, features an octagonal-shaped orientation video room, a large central history gallery, and another intimate video room to present the Civil War story. All three of these rooms feature Blue Ridge Timberwrights timber frame structures suggestive of a Shenandoah Valley barn. It is the museum's most impressive "structure within a structure."To support the architect’s vision, Blue Ridge Timberwrights used Douglas fir in the timber frame structures for its warm, rich color. All this wood is "standing forest salvaged timber," or trees that have died of natural causes or in forest fires. |
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The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, a $20 million project, is 50,000-square-feet and has three levels. The first level contains the main lobby, learning center, tea room with patio, reception hall, and museum store. Offices and meeting rooms are housed on the third level. The second level presents four main galleries comprised of eleven gallery rooms. In the Shenandoah Valley Gallery, three gallery rooms explore the sweep of Valley history, and three additional rooms display decorative arts made in the Valley from the mid-1700s to the present. The Julian Wood Glass Jr. Gallery presents the collection assembled by one of the Valley's most significant private collectors, and includes paintings, furniture, and objects illustrating the themes of portraiture, landscape, and the Grand Tour. The R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Gallery is home to a fascinating collection of furnished miniature houses and rooms, also assembled in the Shenandoah Valley, while the Changing Exhibitions Gallery will display continually changing exhibitions throughout the year. Blue Ridge Timberwrights is pleased to be involved with this culturally rich project honoring an area so close to home, The Shenandoah Valley. If you would like to learn more about the The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, visit the website at www.shenandoahmuseum.org. |
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