Madison Children’s Museum

Madison, WI

Project Overview

The Madison Children’s Museum wanted to create an interpretative and interactive experience for visitors at the museum’s rooftop garden. The landscape architects at raSmith worked closely with the museum’s administrative staff and The Kubala Washatko Architects to design a dynamic outdoor space and learning environment on a hot, cold, windy and urban rooftop overlooking Lake Mendota and the Wisconsin State Capitol Square.

Through a series of design sessions, the museum staff wanted to include a water feature, an outdoor gathering space for events and nighttime movies, a solar farm, a cistern for irrigation, native plantings, chickens(!), and artful, whimsical sculptures. The design included a Tamarack tree tunnel that leads visitors from one side of the rooftop to the other. The raSmith design team also designed an efficient drip irrigation system for all the various plant types on the rooftop garden.

The Madison Children’s Museum is considered one of the nation’s top five children’s museums by Parent’s Magazine.

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