Beaudry Interactive, an experiential design and production studio that works with themed entertainment, museums, exhibitions, live shows, and branded experiences, is celebrating the launch of the brand new Children’s Educational Activity Center at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, US.
The National Automobile Museum’s children’s programme is unique because it combines its automobiles, street scenes, and historical information with a kid-centric experience design approach and cutting-edge technology to educate young visitors, their guardians, and teachers. With a historically significant collection of over 200 cars, including one-of-a-kind models, it is considered one of the top ten automobile museums in the US.
As part of its strategic initiatives portfolio, the Museum began searching in 2022 for an educational experiential design firm to produce interactive experiences for its yet-to-be-designed children’s centre. Following its initial pitch of interactive elements, the museum hired Beaudry Interactive to develop its new Children’s Center. The new facility was approved in November 2023 and opened on 28 June 2024.
Interactive and hands-on learning
The new 3,000 SQF E.L. Wiegand Children’s Educational Activity Center uses digital and physical interactives to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, curiosity, and STEAM principles through interactive and hands-on learning. The exhibit is geared towards 6+ year-olds and includes an early learning component. These gamified interactive experiences are created for kids, but they also bring families together to play, learn, and make memories, therefore increasing attendance and family memberships.
Beaudry Interactive led this project from the ‘napkin sketch’ ideas to the ‘red carpet’ opening and beyond. As well as interactives, the team also created and managed spatial planning, interior design, product sourcing, educational material, and environmental graphics. Beaudry’s partnership with the Museum created a lively, modern, energetic area that gives the museum a fresh, new look and offers fun educational activities for all ages.
Valeria Beaudry, principal of Beaudry Interactive, says:
“While our company was responsible for the design of the center and of the interactives, it was the full, uncompromising commitment of both Phil MacDougall (president and executive director of the museum) and B.J. Sullivan (museum’s board member and the owner of Clark and Sullivan Construction, who acted as GC for the project), to deliver on the design intent which allowed the Center to hit the WOW factor with the Museum’s Board, major donors and, most importantly, with Museum’s guests”.
Phil MacDougall says:
“We now have 3,000 square feet of fun for kids of all ages to come here and interact with. The Beaudry team hit it out of the park, with their initial concepts, and with how they worked with us. It was a very collaborative, creative process to get us to the opening in seven months. I could not be happier with how the Center turned out…it’s an enhanced experience for guests of the museum.”
Themed zones
The structure of the Children’s Center is designed to resemble automotive design. A road-themed floor, street-themed posters and wayfinding devices, and a gigantic custom-fabricated billboard with automobile ads immerse guests in the automotive-themed setting. Curving entry walls and other structural elements reference the National Automobile Museum’s facade, bringing that architectural language to the new Children’s Center. Seating, including a centrepiece fashioned as a traffic roundabout with street signs, enhances the theme and provides practical solutions.
Thematic colour-coded zones maximise the centre’s compact size and improve the visitor experience. Each zone teaches kids about automotive design, engineering, maintenance, servicing, racing, and safety.
The yellow Auto Design Studio lets guests customise their own car and understand that their design choices affect car performance, safety, and pricing. When fully loaded, the automobile will appear on a giant billboard, highlighting its characteristics. A quiet section will soon be added to this zone, featuring arts and crafts activities for kids, surrounded by inspiring posters, billboard adverts, and the graphics of the Museum’s famed ‘Thomas Flyer’ with comfortable seating integrated into its tyres.
In the blue Jr. Engineering Workshop, children use their engineering and problem-solving talents to build automobiles and other devices while learning physics in this free play area. Meanwhile, the red zone’s SUV toy car offers learning possibilities for 3-5-year-olds through pretend play. They will act as auto repair pros, ensuring the car is ready for the road. In the Car Wash zone, youngsters can play with virtual water and bubbles, guiding water flow to improve car cleanliness, while racing and action dominate the green zone.
The Reno International Speedway digital game lets players use their bodies to guide the car onscreen in a thrilling racing competition through Reno’s streets. Kids can create and test their vehicles at the Racer’s table, then improve their design to win or beat their time. The exhibit begins with kids designing their cars at the build table. They can then test it on an exciting test ramp against other ideas. In addition to the racecourse, a freeform carriageway allows imaginative play. Finally, the light blue zone is being conceptualised and funded and will be unveiled soon.
Fun meets education
In a vibrantly diverse setting designed to engage various age groups, environmental graphics, strong theming, and educational messaging have been carefully crafted to create areas of focus, enhance the theme, and create a cohesive environment that encapsulates the Children’s Center.
Bold environmental graphics, including speed lines that cross walls and checkerboard patterns that immerse visitors in vehicle energy and iconography, illustrate the theme of motion. The Thomas Flyer mural framing the circular seating portals themed as its wheels pays homage to the museum’s iconic car while inspiring creativity and excitement. Street-themed floor graphics unify the space with continuous visual elements accentuating curves and depicting straightaways, encouraging movement throughout and contributing to the design’s visual coherence.
Many learning opportunities await children as they explore the centre. Educational posters use car-themed infographics to teach physics, while play area designs spark imagination. These infographics use bright colours, clear explanations, and appealing imagery to engage kids and make physics fun. These aspects perfectly blend education with cars, keeping kids engaged and informed while having fun.
Beaudry Interactive’s show control, Diva, ensures seamless operations on the backend, providing automatic monitoring, starting, shutdown, and reboot of hardware procedures for all digital interactives. This guarantees a positive experience for both visitors to the Children’s Center and its operators.
Beaudry Interactive values giving guests a personalised, memorable encounter and creating unique and intuitive methods for connecting with an experience. The award-winning company believes well-designed interactions help its customers’ stories, brand messages, and educational elements resonate and encourage each guest’s exploration, discovery and personal storytelling.
Last month, Beaudry Interactive celebrated the launch of the all-new, reimagined Dino Quest at The Discovery Cube in Santa Ana, California, US. The firm collaborated with Discovery Cube Science Center to develop the $6m Dino Quest attraction, which opened to visitors on 25 May. Dino Quest is one of almost a dozen collaborations between the two organisations.
