This Veterans Day, SOM and the Army Historical Foundation celebrate the completion and opening of the National Museum of the United States Army (NMUSA). The 185,000-square-foot museum is the first to tell the story of the oldest branch of the United States military. The building is designed to serve as an educational center, and a symbolic front for the Army.

Visitors will be invited on a journey through every generation of the Army with a special focus on the soldier as an individual. "Our partners at SOM did a magnificent job helping us envision a museum that would reflect the Army’s storied history, its values, and the service of the 30 million men and women who have worn its uniform," said LTG Roger Schultz, USA (Ret.), President of the Army Historical Foundation in a statement. "SOM’s ability to produce such an impressive design while ensuring the museum is also green and sustainable is a credit to their team and representative of our shared values."

The new complex sits on an 84 acre site spanning across Fort Belvoir Military Installation in Virginia, and is designed as a series of pavilions for exhibits and special events. SOM has also provided design and planning for the future of the site, which includes a memorial garden, a parade field and grandstand, and an Army Trail with "interpretive stations."

"Symbolism and community were at the core of our design," said SOM Design Partner Colin Koop in a statement. "We wanted to create a place where veterans and their families could feel at home, and establish a new center of national significance that would, in its architecture, express that very significance and evoke three ideals: discipline, modesty, and rigorousness."

The museum rises 100 feet and the facade is composed of a series of stainless steel panels. At the corner of each pavilion, recessed glass panels alternate with painted aluminum fins, providing a textured layer of character to the exterior aesthetic. 

Inside the complex, stainless steel pylons display the stories of individual soldiers, leading visitors from the promenade, through the vestibule, and into the exhibition hall. The grand lobby can also be used as an event space and its featured black granite wall lists every campaign from the Army's history. The Department of the Army's emblem is inscribed on the terrazzo floor below.

Surrounding the lobby are retail spaces, a cafe, the first of three landscaped terraces, and exhibition spaces, which include a 300-degree theater. Moreover, an expansive staircase guides visitors to additional exhibition spaces on the second floor.

The building achieved LEED® Silver certification through a variety of sustainable features, such as increased insulation, improved glazing, high-efficiency LED lighting, automatic daylighting controls and occupancy sensors, and a green roof.