Carnegie Museum
of Natural History
Dinosaurs in Their Time

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Size: 20,000 square feet
Designers: Carnegie Museum of Natural History, In-House Design Team

Sketchy Details

After more than a decade of planning, the museum’s Dinosaur Hall exhibition was transformed into a new, 20,000 square foot experience of immersive environments and recreated Mesozoic Era habitats, dedicated to the evolution and history of these colossal creatures.

Almost 75% of the 230 artifacts on display in the exhibit are original fossils, making the exhibit one of the finest paleontological collections in the world. The museum’s vast fossil collections, combined with its scientific expertise, creates an exhibit that accurately interprets the incredible record prehistoric animals left behind, integrating them into the ancient ecosystems in which they lived. The exhibit also explores continental and climatic changes that affected the evolution of species over time, and the variety of other extraordinary life forms, including birds, fish, amphibians, turtles, plants, and even mammals, that shared the environment with these dinosaurs.

With only one floor of the plan complete and a single paragraph description of each exhibit, the challenge to kubik maltbie was to fully develop the designs, as well as produce and install all exhibit elements. The key to success was working collaboratively with CMNH paleontologist and museum staff to define the project and determine metrics of success.

Mammoth Results

kubik maltbie’s critical role included the coordination of multiple teams and contractors contributing to the installations and successful completion of the project. The multi-phase and multi-year project included: design development, construction drawings, fabrication, and installation of habitat platforms, as well as production of all interpretive and didactic exhibits, custom casework, metal rails, murals, graphics, exhibit lighting, audio-visual hardware systems, and all interactive media and software elements.