U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum

While positioned as a global stage, the Olympics have provided a context for outstanding achievements for the United States and athletes at both the Olympic and Paralympic games. Those achievements needed to be celebrated and presented to audiences to preserve the legacies and stories of the athletes responsible. The newly completed 60,000-square-foot U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum (USOPM) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, does just that.

The gallery spaces, designed by G&A with the intent of blending immersive storytelling with architecture that matches the fluidity of Olympians in competition, work to present a captivating narrative that flows for the entirety of the visitor experience. The building, conceived by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is inspired by the performative energy and grace of Olympic athletes.

The team envisioned a museum that genuinely reimagines what it means to be accessible and inclusive of all people. To do this required the highest level of collaboration between the design, fabrication, media, and interactive developers to create a seamless, personalized experience for all guests. Through an iterative design process, rapid prototyping, and diverse user testing groups, our team and partners set out to achieve a new benchmark for accessibility through the use of universal design.

This seamless experience is enabled through an RFID-powered badge. At onboarding, guests are asked to pre-select their usability settings. This digital fingerprint lives in the background of the experience and enables over 100 sensors throughout the Museum to respond and adapt to each person's unique preferences. Whether they arrive by wheelchair or on foot, sensors throughout the journey instantly react to their presence and adapt to their needs; thereby, allowing all visitors to fully enjoy and participate in ways they would not have been able to otherwise.

This experience connects us to our identity as athletes, as a nation, and as a people.