kubik maltbie, a leading producer of exceptional exhibits and experiences for museums, science centres, and immersive spaces, is celebrating the opening of the newly renovated Visitor Center at the Hoover Dam.
Completed in 1935, the Hoover Dam stands as an extraordinary feat of engineering from the Great Depression era. It supplies hydroelectric power, manages flooding, and assists in water storage for agriculture, industry, and municipal purposes in the region.
Its refurbished Visitor Center plays a crucial role in educating guests about the dam’s historical significance and impact on the American Southwest.
The exhibits, designed by AldrichPears Associates and built by kubik maltbie, include historic photographs, blueprints, and artefacts related to the dam’s construction, engineering, and regional impact.
In addition to these authentic objects, immersive scenery and AV transport guests into the compelling story of the dam's construction.
Exhibits highlight issues encountered during the dam’s construction, and explore labour conditions, technology, and the participation of thousands of workers.
Guests can learn about the dam’s hydroelectric power generation, the Boulder Canyon Project, and the engineering innovations that enabled its construction.
Additionally, the new Visitor Center features observation decks with spectacular panoramic views of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, and the surrounding desert.
Bringing the landmark to life
As the prime exhibit contractor, kubik maltbie's scope of work spanned exhibit project management, exhibit detailing, fabrication, scenic, model and replica fabrication, casework, graphics production, base building coordination, installation, and more.
In addition to fabricating and installing the exhibits, the company was tasked with installing the AV hardware. It contracted Northern Light Productions as the media producer and collaborated to create an immersive and dynamic experience.
Highlights include the passageway experience, which immerses guests in a replica of the scaffolding used during the dam's construction through a seamless combination of exhibits and media.
Large video screens surrounded by wooden decking create a sensation of being hundreds of feet above the ground, pressed against the enormous rock face.
Inside the passageway, guests see life-size video imagery of workers pushing wheelbarrows, packing heavy dynamite cases, and surveying the site on one side, while on the other, sweeping views show the canyon as it appeared in the early years of the dam's construction.
Along the passageway, guests are surrounded by the sounds of dynamite blasts, workers calling out, picks and shovels clanging, jackhammers chattering, and ropes whizzing past. As explosions are seen in the canyon below, the wooden walkway rumbles beneath guests' feet.
Suddenly, workers on ropes appear from above, speeding through the view and out of sight below.
These scenes show high-scalers, who performed the extremely dangerous task of removing loose and weakened rock from the steep canyon walls with jackhammers and dynamite, all while working high above the valley floor.
At the end of the passageway, guests can join the chaotic scene and plunge a replica dynamite detonator that triggers an enormous explosion in the canyon, followed by a cascade of rocks tumbling down to the valley floor.
Continuing into the exhibit, guests pass beneath the eaves of a construction shed and into a Hoover Dam engineer's workstation.
Using projection-mapped video, the engineer’s desk magically fills with animated blueprints, drawings and historic photos that bring the dam's design to life, immersing guests in the meticulous work of engineers and designers who planned this enormous construction project.
"kubik maltbie is proud to have been entrusted with bringing stories to life for this legendary landmark," says the company.
See also: Built to inspire: kubik maltbie’s turnkey fabrication services
Recently, kubik maltbie celebrated the reopening of London Children’s Museum (LCM) in Ontario, Canada, a museum created for and imagined by children. The company handled pre-construction services, exhibit fabrication, graphic production, and installation for the 17,000-square-foot facility.
