Museum of Life and Environment Fort Mill, South Carolina


Located at a bend in an ancient river next to a thriving commercial corridor on the edge of the new South’s most promising city, this new cultural institution is both a lens and case study of the web of life—the first major museum dedicated to environmental history. The design merges human and ecological landscapes, creating a place for exploring and discovering the connections between culture and nature. Visitors will explore the heritage of the site and the Carolina Piedmont through a series of pavilions that highlight the setting and embody the exhibition themes found within. By offering a new model for the interaction between people and place, the new museum will surprise, provoke, inspire, educate, and delight visitors with experiences that show how intentional choices sustain life and encourage the search for a deeper understanding of how human communities connect with those of other species in the earth’s web
of life.


Exhibit space, classrooms, administration


120,000 square feet


Schematic Design Completed


William McDonough + Partners, Design Architect
Nelson Byrd Woltz, Landscape Architect
Siteworks, Landscape Architect