Bringing Boston Children’s Museum’s Dream it! Build it! Exhibit To Life
What inspires you? And how can that inspiration shape what you build?
At Boston Children’s Museum, the new Dream it! Build it! exhibit invites children and families to explore those questions firsthand through hands-on experiences rooted in construction, architecture and engineering. Created to spark curiosity and encourage young minds to imagine what the cities and communities of tomorrow could become, the exhibit celebrates the creativity behind how things get built.
That same spirit of innovation shaped the construction process itself. Wise Construction, alongside project partners TSKP x IKD and Consulting Engineering Services, LLC, helped transform the Museum’s third floor Construction Zone gallery and refresh six restrooms across two floors. New finishes, flooring, lighting and custom details throughout the spaces created the foundation for the Museum’s vision to come to life.
Behind the playful finished spaces was a thoughtful construction process that required precise coordination and creative problem-solving. Existing plumbing elevations had to be reconciled with the new epoxy flooring, while the custom gallery carpet required an exact field layout to achieve the intended design. Wise used robotic layout technology to transfer the approved carpet pattern directly to the floor, helping the final installation align with the design drawings. In the restrooms, vibrant ocean-blue mosaic tile featuring sea life imagery added another layer of craftsmanship.
All of this work took place while Boston Children’s Museum remained open to visitors. Safety was central to every phase of construction, from temporary protection walls, doors and signage to the careful coordination of deliveries, debris removal and worker access. Wise worked closely with the Museum staff, design team, engineers, exhibit fabricators, and trade partners to solve challenges as they arose while keeping the surrounding spaces safe and operational.
That level of teamwork is not always visible once a project is complete, but it is part of what makes the finished space meaningful. Every detail had to be planned with the Museum’s visitors, and seeing the exhibit come together knowing children and families will learn, create, and imagine there for years to come made the effort especially rewarding.
The project’s focus on looking ahead extended beyond the exhibit itself. The construction industry depends on the next generation of skilled builders, designers and problem-solvers, which is why Wise values opportunities to welcome YouthBuild Boston onto our jobsites and partner with clients who support those experiences alongside us.
During construction, YouthBuild Boston joined Wise and Boston Children’s Museum for a tour of the gallery that would become Dream it! Build it! For the group’s aspiring carpenters, laborers, electricians, plumbers and designers, the visit offered a full-circle moment. Many had visited the Museum as children themselves. Now, they were walking an active jobsite, meeting members of the field and project management teams, and learning firsthand about the people and skills behind the work.
There is something fitting about a project centered on imagination and the future being built through that same spirit of creativity and learning. Dream it! Build it! reminds children that the places around us begin as ideas, and that with teamwork, skill and the courage to create, those ideas can become something real.
The next time you visit the exhibit, take a moment to look beyond what is on display and notice the work that helped make it possible. From the colorful restroom tile and custom gallery carpet to the lighting and finishes woven throughout the space, the craftsmanship tells its own story. An exhibit built to inspire the next generation deserved to be built with inspiration, too.
Dedicated to: Retired Superintendent, Frank Navaroli! Thank you for 26 years of service to Wise Construction.
Thank you to our project partners:
Boston Children’s Museum
TSKP x IKD
Consulting Engineering Services, LLC
YouthBuild Boston
MJM Fabrication
Wise Project Team:
Brenden Lydon
Mohammed Ibrahim Noor Uddin
Frank Navaroli
Felipe Ricardo
Photography: Richard Gayle Photography
