PrairieFire Museum

Challenge

Working closely with the design team at Dimensional Innovations,  Shield helped craft dozens of custom—and often illuminated—solid surface stands, bases and other custom pieces for the brand-new PrairieFire Museum in Overland Park, Kan. DI designed the interior of building, from theming to the exhibits and outsourced many aspects of the job to us, from cladding a single piece in solid surface to engineering an entire assembly.

Solution

Shield’s signature solid surface fabrication can be seen throughout the museum, from countertops to cases and wall cladding to custom display stands. Many pieces were complex to design, engineer and fabricate: pairing with illumination and uplighting with inlaid graphics and material shifts in the museums’s signature angles.

Other notable pieces Shield produced include the large solid surface display bases for the oversized insects and dinosaur skeletons and illuminated iPad display mounts. Perhaps most amazing is the the illuminated solid surface central microscope that stretches from the floor to the ceiling in the main room, anchoring the design and drawing the eye of every visitor.

The entry’s angular and illuminated solid surface ticket kiosks were particularly complex to create because the only parallel lines were from front to back, matching the organic feel of the building and its design. While amazing to view, these were very difficult to engineer. Our team redesigned this piece more than a few times to get the look just right and tie it perfectly to the rest of PrairieFire Museum before fabricating it.

Results

Prairiefire Museum acquired multiple solid surface pieces that matched the unique design requirements of their location. The unique lighting and graphics of the museum required a creative approach that millwork services can’t provide. Our collaborative casework designs supported both the form and function of the space.