Montana Heritage Center

Cushing Terrell is leading design for the new Montana Heritage Center. Currently in conceptual design, the approximately $32 million facility will serve as an inspiring center for discovery, knowledge, and a repository for historic material collections and resources. The design includes significant interior and exterior spaces, including 45,330 square feet of new construction plus 66,995 square feet of renovated space. Serving as a welcoming visitor center for the Capitol Campus, the building will serve as an inviting and accessible venue for patrons and visitors, enhancing the architectural presence of the State Capitol and grounds, and creating a dynamic synergy within the campus, representing the past, present, and future of Montana.

Landscape design will play a significant role for the project. The concept will convey a feeling of traveling through the state and its natural environments. The sloped site will be leveraged through to reference the principle landscapes found in the state; plains and grasslands, foothills and forests, and mountains. This experience extends into the building where the ascent continues to a lookout area. Linking it all together is a pathway representing the rivers that flow from the mountains to the plains.