Preserving the Past in Colonial Williamsburg's New Archaeology Laboratory
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will open the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center in 2026, offering visitors a behind-the-scenes look at active archaeological research and conservation in a state-of-the-art, interactive facility. Image: Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg, the nation’s largest living-history museum, is dedicated to preserving and interpreting life in 18th-century America. Situated in Virginia’s Historic Triangle, the 300-acre site features meticulously restored buildings, costumed interpreters, historic tradespeople, and active archaeological digs that bring the past vividly to life. Through immersive educational experiences, the foundation connects modern audiences with the complex history of early America.
As part of its continued efforts to expand public engagement, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will open the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center in 2026. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is still actively fundraising to complete the building’s construction and maintain it into the future.
This new facility will offer visitors an unprecedented look into the archaeological process that supports the foundation’s research and storytelling. The center is being designed as a fully functional laboratory with transparent walls that allow guests to observe active conservation, analysis, and cataloging of artifacts. Visitors will be able to observe the archaeological team as they conduct x-rays, clean, analyze, and catalogue artifacts. It will also feature hands-on activities, educational exhibits, and specialized storage areas.
Designing for transparency and interactive learning
Flexibility and storage were the main priorities when designing this building, says Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “We designed the lab spaces so that rooms could be partitioned off in a variety of ways to meet the needs of the project—whether that’s spreading out an entire collection, looking at several different assemblages separately from one another, giving a visiting scholar a place to work, or hosting a large group of students. We were also very intentional about the use of cabinets and other storage solutions in the design in order to give ourselves plenty of room to grow our collection.”
An example of artifacts found in Colonial Williamsburg. Image: Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
This project is a joint effort between Colonial Williamsburg and architectural firm Clark Nexsen. “Clark Nexsen has experience designing both laboratories and public spaces, so in that initial design they were able to offer us all the functionality we could possibly want in a lab. From there we were able to winnow it down to what we really needed in order to create a space that functions as a lab, a storage facility, and a museum,” says Gary.
This design promotes deeper engagement with the archaeological process, transforming passive observation into participatory learning. Visitors won’t just view artifacts behind glass—they’ll have the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities, such as washing small artifacts like animal teeth, under supervision. These interactive experiences provide a rare opportunity to contribute to ongoing research.
“We wanted to design the building in a way that allows our guests to both see and interact with the work we’re doing,” says Gary, noting that sensitive spaces can be sectioned off to control visitor access. All hands-on programs will be run by professional archaeologists, so visitors will be fully supervised if they come into contact with artifacts or equipment. He adds, “All of the glass used in the design of the building gives our guests ample opportunity for both passive exploration and interactive programming. But we also need to use the building for office space and artifact preservation, so built into the design are ‘back of house’ spaces where staff and artifacts can be out of the public spotlight.”
The interactive glass design is not without its dilemmas, however. “One of the challenges that we are still trying to problem-solve for is how to make a transparent space interactive—how do you talk to people through glass? We have a few ideas to try out, but we’ll have to see what works best once we actually get into the space,” says Gary. “Another issue connected to using so much transparent material in the design of the building is light control. Thankfully, our collection is not as light-sensitive as, say, Colonial Williamsburg’s decorative arts collection, but minimizing light infiltration is still something we have to think about. Our solution for that was mechanized shades that will be programmed to go up and down based on the angle of the sun.”
Protecting against oxidation
The Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center project is a joint effort between Colonial Williamsburg and architectural firm Clark Nexsen. Image: Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg
Central to the center will be a study collection containing the most significant artifacts unearthed during nearly a century of excavation at Colonial Williamsburg. These objects will be stored in a climate-controlled glass room designed for optimal preservation and visibility. Specialized spaces, including a low-humidity room for metal artifacts, have been engineered to prevent degradation, particularly the oxidation that threatens iron-based items.
“Protecting artifacts—particularly iron artifacts—from degradation and oxidation is a real challenge, especially in Tidewater Virginia,” says Gary, detailing the significance of the low-humidity room within the laboratory. “The Campbell Archaeology Center will have a low-humidity room located at the very center of the building which will give us total control of the relative humidity in that one space. By keeping the RH at 7 percent or lower, we can completely stop the oxidation process and prevent objects from rusting away.”
Gary adds, “The building is designed to serve as a buffer for the collection itself. The low humidity room sits at the center of the study collection which is located in the very center of the building. So even though the study collection room has glass walls to allow for public viewing, the envelope of the building protects it from direct light and other environmental intrusions, allowing us to maintain a stable environment for the artifacts.”
The new center complements ongoing excavation work in areas like the Peter Scott site, where modern archaeological methods are uncovering new layers of historical understanding. Enhanced by technologies such as microscopic plant analysis and soil pollen extraction, these techniques allow archaeologists to reconstruct past environments and social conditions with greater accuracy.
Specialized equipment and laboratory technologies have been incorporated into the new facility to improve artifact analysis and preservation. Two fume extraction systems have been incorporated into the facility, which “will be particularly helpful in the conservation lab where we often use chemicals during the artifact conservation process,” Gary notes. He adds that the project also include a building-wide sediment trap to manage the dirt that washes down the drain while cleaning newly-excavated artifacts.
Balancing high-tech labs with public engagement
The new laboratory supports excavation efforts at sites in Colonial Williamsburg. Image: Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Accessibility was also a main concern in the design plan, says Gary. “One factor that we kept in mind through the design process was that the higher-tech the lab is, the less accessible it becomes. Our goal was always to create spaces that were both usable and accessible. This building is designed to function not only as a lab, but also as a museum and a storage facility, so we incorporated just enough specialized equipment to allow us to do our work safely and efficiently, but not so much that it makes the space feel clinical and inaccessible.”
Beyond the lab, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation continues its longstanding collaboration with the College of William and Mary. Programs such as the National Institute of American History and Democracy’s certificate in Public History and Material Culture, as well as summer field schools, offer students immersive opportunities to contribute to active digs and lab work. “Because our building needs to function as a lab, a storage facility, and a museum, the ability to use the same spaces for a variety of different purposes is key. We have two classrooms built into the building, one of which can be used as a laboratory. And since very few of the spaces include highly specialized equipment, they are just as accessible to external researchers as they are to students and community members,” says Gary.
The Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center is designed to protect the past, making it a lasting resource for generations of learners and researchers.
“The mission of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is, ‘that the future may learn from the past.’ We never know what the emerging technologies are going to be in our field. What we do know is that once an artifact comes up out of the ground, it’s at risk of being lost to any future research,” says Gary. “This building is designed with long-term preservation in mind so that whatever the future may hold, everything in our collection is still available to be studied using those new technologies and methods.”
