- Location: Hershey, PA
- Client: The Hershey Company
- Size: 21,810 sf
With an annual attendance of nearly 3 million, Hershey’s Chocolate World is the most popular corporate visitor center in the United States. Visitors come to Hershey’s Chocolate World to see the chocolate manufacturing process first hand at The Great American Chocolate Tour, Factory Works, and the Really Big 3D Show. Its location adjacent to Hersheypark and free admission make it one of Hershey’s most popular tourist destinations.
The building was designed to be reminiscent of the original chocolate factory and is adorned with faux brick and limestone. Two smoke stacks made of faux brick are supported from the roof of the structure.
Based upon a conceptual design prepared by renowned attraction designer Gary Goddard Entertainment, SMB&R provided architectural and structural engineering services for a 21,810 sf addition to the original facility containing the 3,725 sf 3D Theater with a 920 sf stage. Visitors to the 3D Theater are accommodated in an enlarged lobby area, with a light and sound vestibule separating the public spaces from the interior of the theater. The show is designed as an interactive experience, where the Hershey’s product characters virtually jump off the big screen and come to life in the custom designed 250-seat theater. The theater experience goes beyond traditional visual and auditory messages and engages all of the viewers’ senses. Specially designed seating in the theater becomes a part of the show, with carefully coordinated special effects such as the sensation of cobwebs on the viewer’s face, bubbles, “snow”, and squirts of water relating to the action on the screen.
Behind the scenes, the project included approximately 5,000 sf of pre-function spaces, including a projection and control room, production areas for digital and film production services, and lighting catwalks. The acoustics of the theater were of particular concern and the materials of the space were designed to reflect and absorb sound, as appropriate, for proper reverberations. The mechanical systems were designed to have low noise levels.
Work at Hershey’s Chocolate World also included structural engineering design services for the entrance structure supporting the Hershey’s Chocolate World sign and for interior modification and expansion of the original lobby to accommodate visitors waiting for the next show time. A subsequent project involved piercing a load bearing wall to allow construction of the Kit Kat Café.
