Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle

The Burke Museum is the oldest public museum in Washington State. Its collections hold more than sixteen million objects and specimens, from totem poles to dinosaur fossils and gemstones. The building reopened in 2019 after a complete rebuild, designed by Olson Kundig and constructed by Skanska.

The brief called for a coherent yet flexible container, able to house a heterogeneous and continuously growing collection. A key design goal was maximum transparency: stores and research laboratories are made visible and integrated into the visitor route.

The exterior envelope is clad in Kebony Character, installed by Sessler, Inc. The Character grade, with its visible knots, gives the volume a textured, natural face consistent with the institution's environmental stance. The modified wood withstands the humid Pacific Northwest climate over the long term with no finish to reapply.