Each week 10,000 visitors stroll through the East Colonnade of the White House to embark on a tour through several of the sitting rooms, receiving spaces, and dining venues of presidents past and present. The tour through these historic rooms has always been curated to point out historic moments and artifacts collected and preserved by presidents over the years. A revamp of the exhibition and interpretive displays improves a long history of educating the public on history, democracy, and the U.S. presidency. NBBJ’s experience design studio, ESI Design, in collaboration with A&E Networks, worked with First Lady and classroom teacher Jill Biden, on a new and enhanced public tour for visitors that presents the importance and legacy of the presidential collection across 18 existing rooms.
The most notable updates include the addition of tactile elements and digital storytelling strategies that do away with the outdated static photo collages documenting the architectural and historical artifacts on the White House grounds.
“I’ve been a classroom teacher for 40 years, and I know learning has to be interactive and engaging,” Jill Biden said. “It has to evoke the senses, and you have to meet students where they are, giving them what they need to spark their curiosity and imagination.”
“We’ve added flexible, versatile, and dynamic tools of learning to the tour; created more pathways in the house to bring people further into the rooms; expanded the tour to now include the Diplomatic Reception Room where President Roosevelt hosted his famous fireside chats; and we’ve included more educational content that visitors can touch, hear, and see up close,” she added.
Previously, on the ground floor level, the public tour offered only a glimpse into the Library, Vermeil Room, and China Room. Now, visitors will have access to the Diplomatic Reception Room, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously held his historic “fireside chats.”
Multi-sensory reader rails are now fashioned with myriad tactile and digital elements, that hone in on objects and historical details staged in the various rooms, among these a replica of a bust from a fireplace. Other hands-on displays include a table setting that keeps cherished plates behind glass to teach visitors about the dining experience of presidents and their guests over the years.
Visitors enter in the East Wing, where a screen stands ready to play a recorded video message from the First Lady. It is the first of many new digital installations designed to enhance storytelling and engagement. Updated graphic and media displays in the East Colonnade act as a “Living Timeline,” the displays, nestled below the archways in the hallway, tell the tales of monumental moments over the course of U.S history.
As visitors move through the East Colonnade they arrive in the East Garden Room, where a 3D architectural model showcases the White House’s expansive 18-acre grounds and provides context for what is to come. The model is complemented by four additional architectural models featuring a section and plan views of the White House that show how the building and property has changed. Enhanced by an intricate internal lighting display, the models illuminate key milestones in the architectural history of the White House, such as the finish of the reconstruction of the Executive Mansion in 1818.
As visitors exit the Diplomatic Reception Room, before making their way up to the State Floor, a large photo frame displays education content as well as images of the White House beyond the areas that are open to the public such as the kitchen. In the Diplomatic Reception Room an audio track plays clips from “fireside chats.”
A Welcome Pillar in the East Room with a recorded message from Present Biden formally introduces the State Floor, where the tour picks up next to usher visitors through the Red, Blue, and Green rooms—best known for their annual elaborate and themed holiday decor.
At the landing of the Grand Staircase an array of photographs from special events hosted at the White House is now on view. In the State Dining Room more reader rails, featuring tactile components offer visitors a final look (and touch) of history. Here history buffs can run fingers over the engraving lining the mantle that quotes a letter from John Adams—another enhancement meant to make history more engaging.