Port City Play

1,800 Square Foot Play Gallery

In the middle of the Cape Fear Museum is a magical space just for little ones. The local sites of New Hanover County are transformed into a whimsical environment where kids can play and grow. Children can explore the cypress swamp, set sail from the port, and put on shows in the historic Thalian Hall theater, learning all the way!

Secret Seagull

When kids discover the giant sailing ship, the first thing they notice is the figurehead at the front. It’s not an ordinary mermaid or dragon, but a trio of spinning cubes that allow kids to make their own fantasy animal creations.

There are dozens of possible combinations, but when all three cubes make the seagull captain, a triumphant fanfare plays from a concealed speaker, and a seagull pops up from behind the crow’s nest on the mast!

Thalian Hall Theater

A key element of the Port City Play gallery is the theater where kids can get dressed up and put on shows of their own. “Backstage” are custom illustrated graphic backdrop curtains, a sound effect foley booth, and a dressing room costume closet.

But to ensure that this make-believe theater is unlike any other, I designed the structure to mimic the local historic theater, Thalian Hall. I simplified the ornate historic proscenium into the general gesture of the space, while making use of layered plywood cutouts to simulate intricate details for a fraction of the price. The photos below show a side-by-side comparison of these spaces.

Cypress Swamp Maze

A huge staircase spirals up the three floors of the museum, surrounding the dome of the planetarium on the first floor. Here in the Port City Play gallery, this staircase takes up a great deal of the usable floor space and makes it inaccessible to standing or walking visitors. So I designed a space that can only be crawled through.

Kids and grownups alike are forced into a crawling position as they enter through the arched roots of cypress trees. Once they’ve entered the swamp, they discover the creatures who live there, all while staying low to the ground. A net ceiling keeps visitors from standing up under the staircase while allowing light into the maze.