VMHA Selects Design Team for New Consolidated Museum

With three decades experience designing for commercial, municipal, and non-profit clients across Alaska, Wolf Architecture, based in Palmer, Alaska, is well-suited to lead the design effort for the Valdez Museum. Their team has spent the past two years working in Valdez on several projects including the new Fire Station 1. The work they’ve done designing and promoting Matanuska Susitna’s Gateway Center is very similar in scope to the services required for the Valdez Museum.

“It is an absolute honor to be selected to design the new Valdez Museum and Historical Archive. We’re enthusiastic to work with the community in creating a place that celebrates the history and envisions the future of the entire Copper Basin and Prince William Sound region,” said Gary Wolf, President of Wolf Architecture.

Hennebery Eddy Architects is a nationally recognized architecture and interior design firm based in Portland, Oregon. Hennebery Eddy has broad experience designing cultural, exhibit, museum, and community gathering spaces. Their recent work with the new Rothko Pavilion at the Portland Art Museum and renovations at the Oregon Historical Society reflect the community and culture of those institutions.

“Hennebery Eddy Architects is thrilled to be working with the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive and the City of Valdez on what will be a vibrant new hub for the community, and a destination for visitors to Prince William Sound. Together with Wolf Architecture, our vision is to provide the VMHA with a welcoming, inclusive museum that embodies the unique culture and spirit of Valdez,” said Tim Eddy, President of Hennebery Eddy Architects. 

Combined, the two firms take a holistic, net-positive approach to design — incorporating energy-saving and embodied carbon-reduction strategies while also addressing issues of equity and inclusion, universal access, and user wellbeing. Architect Andrew Smith, design manager for the Valdez Museum from Hennebery Eddy, championed the universal access efforts at the Rothko Pavilion as well as at Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri.