Historic exhibits on the Dooley family complete the Visitor's Center experience. The River Gallery visually moves visitors through the Falls of the James River via a series of interactive galleries that flow throughout the space. From the entrance, steps and ramps cascade down, leading from one exhibit to the next. Realizing that people learn differently, the Cambridge Seven design team combined various learning opportunities in a forum that would encourage interaction and exploration. Kuttner notes that the design departs from what is often done in museums and like facilities.
Museums typically feature a direct path from one area to another, which is obviously important.
However, animals or aquatic life are often separated from exhibits accompanying information about them. We wanted to create an environment where people would be encouraged to take advantage of the knowledge conveyed through the exhibits as much as they would be drawn to the wildlife. The resulting design solution involves a series of terraces with a gallery located directly opposite the natural exhibit. The exhibit is really a series of 13 aquariums that are linked together to simulate one continuous body of water. Exhibits accompanying each distinct area were done in a different accent color to set them apart and to further delineate the space.