The Museum of Science and Industry is home to one of the most important moments of history from WWII: the U-505, a German submarine captured by the Allied forces that contained the materials needed to crack Germany’s top secret codes. Visitors can tour inside the renovated submarine for a first-hand look at this impressive piece of history. The exhibit has been on display for half a century, and utilizes interactive stations, videos, artifacts, and preserved media to outline the submarine’s history and capture.
For the U-505 exhibit, we implemented a low-maintenance lighting design that would conserve energy and resources for the museum. All track fixtures were re-lamped with digitally controlled, color-tunable LED PAR lamps, as well as a cleaning and re-lamping of the theatrical lighting on the submarine for an authentic, historical effect of a marine maintenance hangar. We also improved the exhibit’s graphics, replacing the old T12 fluorescent lights with new LED for more consistent, legible displays. These important updates elevate the exhibit and provide a proper setting for the historic event it recounts.
