Mark Twain House Visitor and Education Center
Hartford, Connecticut
Kroll Security Group was hired to provide the planning, design and construction of the new Education and Visitor Center for the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut.
The 32,700 square foot building is built into a hillside. The house consists of four floors - two within the hillside and two above. The building serves as a link to convey the visitor from the parking lot 25 feet below the house, to the carriage house and gardens on top of the hill.
An entrance from the parking lot leads to a generous entry foyer and double-height Great Hall which in turn opens onto two orientation galleries as well as a 175-seat lecture hall. Visitors are encouraged to walk up the sky lighted stepped ramp that winds past a changing exhibition gallery to the upper grade, where a café opens on to a terrace overlooking the House and its grounds. This level also offers the use of a large divisible classroom, as well as an exterior pergola for outdoor dining. A third level houses curatorial offices, a reading room and collection storage.
