Port Discovery Children’s Museum

Port Discovery Children’s Museum in Baltimore engaged Quatrefoil to develop a “Playhouse,” a flex space created as an active theater and creative play space for children aged 2-10 years old.

Working closely with the museum’s exhibit and education teams, our team shared design ideas as well as the challenge of optimizing available funds toward an enriching experience without sacrificing imagination and wonder. Universal design philosophy guided our decisions for meeting ADA accessibility standards and creating intuitive instructions for young audiences.

The “Playhouse” invites visitors to:

• Become actors on the Scenic Stage, playing together to create a story.
• Engage with “tech booth” lighting and sound effects to project onto the Scenic Stage to bring the story to life.
• “Get into Character” by trying on actual costumes and digital headgear; then “appear” in the actual playbill poster with augmented reality 3D software.
• Appear and disappear behind a scrim, interacting with color and theatrical lighting effects.