The permanent exhibitions at the museum were designed by Haley Sharpe Design, based in Leicester, UK, and Origin Studios, based in Ottawa. The design team, together with museum historians, crafted its exhibits in which the themes of brutality, geography, politics, and survival are woven throughout most of the exhibitions in the museum. The museum permanent exhibitions are divided into seven zones, and further sub-divided into 25 themed clusters. Graphic interpretive information is spread throughout the exhibits in order to convey textual and visual information to visitors.