Help Us Stoke Enthusiasm Among Future Workers

Do you want to get young people excited about offsite construction?
The Big Build is your opportunity to do just that.

When you think about museums in Washington, D.C., I’m sure some of the first that comes to mind are the National Gallery of Art, the National Air and Space Museum, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, or maybe the National Archives.

But have you ever heard of the National Building Museum?

That’s right… near Penn Quarter and Chinatown, and just blocks away from the Capitol Building, you can find the extraordinary structure that houses the National Building Museum. At almost 37,000 square feet and 15 stories tall, the museum currently has eight special exhibitions on display and over twenty collections telling the stories of our country’s building history.

The building was designed and engineered by US Army Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs in the late 1800’s to house the headquarters of the US Pension Bureau and to commemorate the service of those who fought on the side of the Union during the Civil War. Its interior and exterior design was inspired by Roman palaces and boasts some of the tallest classical columns in the world.

A Place for Learning

But the Museum is more than a great piece of architecture. It also hosts many public and private events throughout the year.

One of the most impressive events is The Big Build – a free, one-day hands-on community event that invites visitors of all ages to discover various aspects of the construction industry through exposure, exploration and experimentation. Last year’s event hosted over 4,000 visitors — a majority of whom were children under the age of 12 — in the museum’s Great Hall.

Fun, interactive stations allow young people to learn about various trades and topics like plumbing, electrical, carpentry, engineering, disaster mitigation, energy, painting, insulating concrete forms and heavy machinery. (Heavy machines are placed outside, on the Museum’s West Lawn “Petting Zoo.”)

Unfortunately, however, one thing was conspicuously absent from last year’s event — representation from the off-site sector.

We’re working to fill that gap for the 2023 event. Momentum Innovation Group, the company I work with, is recruiting a consortium of companies interested in participating in an offsite construction station, where kids can interact with multiple types of construction technologies. Whether you’re a producer of panelized systems, volumetric modules (steel, wood), 3D printed homes, mass timber, etc., we’d love to have you participate.

This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2023, from 10 am to 4 pm. There is no fee to participate with a booth or station, but organizations will need to commit to bringing, or collaborating on, an interactive activity and sending at least one representative to volunteer at the station. (The representative must be great with kids!) There are also sponsorship opportunities available to companies who are interested — for The Big Build as well as for longer-term partnerships with the Museum.

For those who understand the dire need for greater exposure to the construction industry — and specifically off-site — to help build our dwindling workforce pipeline, this is an amazing opportunity to get in front of thousands of curious young people.