Science Research Buried in a Gold Mine — Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center
Science Research Buried in a Gold Mine, the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center in Lead, South Dakota, opened in 2015 to interpret the former Homestake gold mine's conversion into the Sanford Underground Research Facility, with exhibit design, media, signage, and branding by C&G Partners, architecture by Dangermond Keane Architecture, AV integration by RBH Media, and fabrication by Formations and Situ Studio.
| Venue | Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center |
|---|---|
| Project type | New Building |
| Status | Completed |
| Year completed | 2015 |
| Technologies | multiscreen audiovisual, sculptural kinetic model |
Credits
| Firm | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|
| C&G Partners | Exhibit Design | |
| C&G Partners | Environmental Graphics & Wayfinding | Environmental graphics and branding |
| Bearing Architecture | Architecture | |
| rbh-media | AV Integration | AV programming and hardware specification |
| formations | Fabrication | |
| situ-studio | Fabrication | Mine model and interpretive ring fabrication |
Description
The center addresses the challenge that most of the underground research facility is a mile below ground and inaccessible to the public. Centerpiece installations include a sculptural mobile representing all 370 miles of the mine's tunnels and shafts, a 300-foot photographic frieze, a large window overlooking the mine, and The Ross Cage: a vintage elevator cage salvaged from the mine's Ross shaft, repurposed into a multiscreen audiovisual experience simulating a descent to the Lab's 4850 Level featuring conversations among mining engineers, employees, and physicists. The project received an SEGD Merit Award in 2016.