One of the top teaching hospitals in the US, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), today opened The Russell Museum of Medical History and Innovation. The opening coincides with the Hospital’s 200th anniversary. Designed by Boston-based architect Leers Weinzapfel Associates, a past recipient of the Firm of the Year Award from the American Institute of Architects, the museum is a gateway to MGH’s campus and is the first purpose-built hospital museum in the United States.

Funded entirely by philanthropy, the two-storey structure (with a third level rooftop garden) clad in copper and glass, has a dynamic and flexible design that can adapt to changing technologies, exhibits and functions. Housed within the building’s 8,000 sq ft interior, are reception and orientation space, core and changing exhibition galleries, media and theatre space, a hands-on learning and simulation lab, and support spaces.

The Russell Museum “is designed to be a cultural and educational portal”, says Peter Slavin, MD, President of the hospital. “Through the lens of the MGH, the museum aims to tell the story of the evolution of medicine and the innovations under way today that will shape the practice of medicine in the future.”