Griffin Museum of Science and Industry South Portico

After the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry completed a campus-wide exercise to address the growth around the institution and re-examine the Museum’s more than 400,000 square feet of exhibition and public space, the historic South Portico will be reopened for the first time in centuries. RAMSA completed the year-long master plan in 2024, analyzing how underused areas of the building might be better utilized and how to strengthen connections between the Museum and surrounding campus.

The South Portico originally served as a primary entrance when the building debuted as the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. RAMSA’s reactivation of the historic southern entry sequence introduces a second front door to the Museum which will provide direct, ADA-compliant access to the ground level of the central pavilion, as well as a new relationship to the adjacent Columbia Basin Lagoon. The intervention responds contextually to the existing architecture, incorporating a glazed curtain wall that carefully modifies the existing staircase while engaging with the Museum’s historic cheek walls and façade columns. Removed stone stairs will be preserved, allowing the historic façade to be restored to its original configuration in the future.

Upon entering the South Portico, guests will be welcomed into a newly reimagined South Court, featuring the Museum’s world-renowned Coal Mine exhibit, which first debuted during the Museum’s opening in 1933. Additional guest areas will include a glass-enclosed year-round café and open-air event terrace featuring awe-inspiring views of the lagoon, cherry trees and the Obama Presidential Center, creating new opportunities for visitors to experience the Museum’s architecture and landscape.