St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum keeps the stories of our nation’s oldest port alive. Our approach to defying the traditional aligned with the desires of the museum and its executive director to break boring rules for historic site exhibits. Through architecture and storytelling, we transformed a disparate site into an interconnected campus of authentic play and preservation experiences that extend visitor engagement To help make the lighthouse more than just a 219-step climb, we added super-tall silhouette personages who span floors, adding impact and character to the historic interior. Once-cluttered landings are now welcome places of respite. The characters punctuate lighthouse beauty and function, count steps, callout views and engage via social media. Within the adjacent Education Center, model ships share stories of famous Florida coastal journeys, and a miniature lighthouse permits accessible play with lens explorations.

Visitors previously intent on only the lighthouse climb now are attracted to the immersive experiences of the historic two-story keeper’s home: a WRECKED discovery lab with hands-on STEM challenges and, submerging below, a sandbar’s undulating terrain of oceanographic topography.