Lake Peigneur Salt Mine

Louisiana’s Lake Peigneur, or Jefferson Island, is the site of a salt mine that closed in 1979 after a deadly explosion. This explosion caused the salt mine to implode on itself and created a 200 foot deep cavern in the lake, making this one of Louisiana’s only topographical features. I began the design process for a museum by researching the site and mapping the surrounding agriculture, topography of the site and the salt mine, and salt extraction points. I decided to use the peninsula protruding into the water as the site for my building. I landed on this site because it had the most extreme relation to the cavern.

The museum is broken up into 4 buildings situated along a path that follows the topography of the site. This created three thresholds within the project: the walkway, the metal grate connecting the path to the buildings, and the buildings themselves. The gravel path has a retaining wall to hold back the land behind it, allowing the path threshold to create a site experience for the visitors that doesn’t disrupt the natural elements.

The four buildings have timber bracing systems which wrap around the rectangular structures. This module pays tribute to the head frame structure that once pulled up salt from the mine. The buildings are supported by bracing as well, separating them from the site making the third threshold distinct in it’s experience of the artifacts within the buildings and not one of the site.

The first building is the visitor’s center with three administrative offices in the back. The second building has a video exhibit in the back and houses a salt wall, and has artifacts on display. The third building, at the tip of the peninsula, has a pitched roof with a full wall window on the side of the lake to highlight the view of the lake and the cavern. The last building at the end of the path is a cafe with an outdoor seating area. Along the path as well is an old mining cage and mine cart.