Hired during the formative phase of the development of the World Trade Center site—about three years after September 11, 2001—H+R was tasked with jumpstarting the curatorial and planning work for what would become the National September 11 Memorial Museum. 

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As interpretive planners, H+R's prime responsibilities were to craft a compelling narrative framework for telling the story of 9/11, provide recommendations on exhibit organization and research potential assets for the museum. By the conclusion of the project, H+R had organized several thousand potential assets—including artifacts like heat-warped steel tridents, personal belongings, and dust-covered furnishings; oral histories, photographs, artwork and various forms of digital media—into a custom searchable database.

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​H+R also worked closely with the project’s two architectural firms, Davis Brody Bond and Snøhetta, to develop circulation patterns, recommend building materials and systems, analyze the sequence for loading large artifacts, develop project schedules and create budgets. Additionally, H+R was tasked with making recommendations on how to deal with sensitive and disturbing materials in the creation of a special children’s exhibit.

OBJECTIVE To use interactives, artifacts and large-scale immersive graphics to evoke the 1940s heyday of the Luray Depot as a bustling center of trade and transport, when steam locomotion was king. A key goal was to use period-evocative graphic motifs and finishes that complemented the historic depot, while achieving a timeless and polished exhibit. Interpretation brings together a floor railroad map with custom art based on Depression-era travel posters, a centerpiece model railroad, digital interactives and historic photos to re-imagine a time when the Depot represented the very heart of this rural Virginia town.OBJECTIVE To use interactives, artifacts and large-scale immersive graphics to evoke the 1940s heyday of the Luray Depot as a bustling center of trade and transport, when steam locomotion was king. A key goal was to use period-evocative graphic motifs and finishes that complemented the historic depot, while achieving a timeless and polished exhibit. Interpretation brings together a floor railroad map with custom art based on Depression-era travel posters, a centerpiece model railroad, digital interactives and historic photos to re-imagine a time when the Depot represented the very heart of this rural Virginia town.