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Panoptic Design/Build

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United States
Manchester, NH
Panoptic Design/Build

A full-service museum exhibit designer and fabricator with specialty services ranging from concept design to installation and maintenance.

06/08/2026

From humble beginnings to bigger spaces, better tools, and wider skillsets, we're celebrating two years of Panoptic! We have loved every minute of it and are so proud of the company we're continuing to build.

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Starting with a borrowed table saw and two filing cabinets for desks, Evan and Terra showed the museum community what dedication to creativity, robust design and safety could look like. Midway through our first year, we were pleasantly surprised to be outgrowing our initial shop space and moved into our current home. In our second year, we've only continued to expand adding three new employees, widening our abilities, all while creating some pretty cool custom projects along the way.

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We could not be more grateful to all those who believed in us from the beginning, offering us their old garage tools and continued emotional support. Additionally, we are so grateful to all of our clients -- past, present, and future -- who allow us to do what we love for a living. We are so excited for what the future holds and can't wait to see what cool things we come up with next!

05/21/2026

Panoptic is on TV! Terra was on this morning with Executive Director of Diane Chambers to discuss the upcoming outdoor play and learning space coming this summer, Farm in the Woods. This farm and nature exhibit features a barn, garden, sand play, a cottage full of forest creatures, and even an "underground" maze. We've been pouring our hearts into it for months now, and ground has broken at the museum! Come play and watch the construction out the window :) then come back later this summer to be the first to play in it!

Watch the 5-minute segment at www.wwlp.com/massappeal

Many thanks to the folks at WWLP for the warm welcome, studio tour, and helping us feel comfortable on set!

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05/07/2026

We’re celebrating Nate’s one year at Panoptic! Nate was our very first accomplice, coming to us from the incredible , and he quickly became our electronics, 3D printing, and CNC aficionado. You can often find him in the shop tinkering, soldering, and troubleshooting many a project’s hardware and software. Most recently, he made a sample of a topographic map for the using contour routing and a whole lot of fancy tool pathing. We think it came out pretty great! We’re constantly pulling on Nate’s experience working directly with kids and families and his science and tech background to make our exhibits more fascinating, accessible, and fun. Thanks for sticking with us, Nate!

03/11/2026

A cabin that walks the line between art and science.. We loved this project and can't wait to see what they do next!

12/01/2025

Morning bliss in a messy shop.

I love when the shop is a little chaotic. It usually means we're right smack in the middle of making some cool stuff. Things are coming together for a mid-December install, and it shows: finished cabinetry protected behind cardboard, half-empty paint cans, packing materials overflowing, stray tools, and funny exhibit details ready to be fitted on, wrapped and shipped to New York! December meets us with bright blue, sunny windows and bare trees decked with the occasional bald eagle or red tailed hawk. With all the leaves fallen now, we can watch the river tumbling along and see the deer stopping by on the opposite bank. It seems fitting that we're making exhibits about loving and protecting a river, albeit one farther from here.

Stick around to see how it comes out!

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11/15/2025

We were honored to be invited to the Flight Forward gala, and had a great time exploring the open aircraft while tasting some incredible eats by and just taking in the space we've spent so much time in with our heads down, laser focused on our work. The process of bringing in the human element of aviation to compliment this stunning collection has been unique and challenging, but seeing it all come together was so rewarding. We really got to see our exhibits, both new and one year in, through the eyes of the visitor! Today is open cockpit day; go take a look for yourself! 🛫
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11/11/2025

A lot going on last week! We had a great time attending the conference in Manchester, NH, especially getting to hang out at the and for the opening reception. Seeing folks using our kiosks at SEE is pretty priceless 👌 Then we attended as many sessions as we could into our one day. From interpreting religion to preserving and displaying sports memorabilia, we definitely had a lot to bring home. Plus we got to see friends in the exhibitors hall, including , , , and more. Great times collaborating, listening, and of course grabbing a drink with folks who love New England Museums as much as we do. Excellent crowd over there.

We had aspirations of exhibiting this year, but ended up a bit too busy to think about putting a booth together. If we did it next year, what should we show off? Have to start planning for it now...

10/24/2025

Looking back... sometimes just last year seems like decades ago. 🧐

This little artifact is going into another immersive space at the soon. Ever wonder what it was like to live during the Cold War? Or maybe you remember all too well... The smell of the inkwells in your desk, the "good manners" posters hung around your classroom walls, and Bert the Turtle on the old CRT... if you know, you know. It's not unheard of for Americans to live mostly normal lives with the threat of nuclear war looming hazy in the background. How did everyday citizens cope with it, and how did the country prepare for and defend against it? What has changed since the mid-50s? And how did major strides in aviation technology advance how we conduct defensive warfare and espionage, even to this day?

All this and more to be pondered soon, as this exhibit comes to life at the end of October. Start planning a visit now!

10/23/2025

Coming soon: A look back in time, to a humble garage, and the person inside who changed aviation forever..

Come to the in November to explore this , among many other exhibits!

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10/10/2025

Exhibit Spotlight (get it?): Colorful Shadows 🔴🟢🔵

This subtly sciencey museum staple uses three lights: red, green, and blue, which make white light when combined. But step in front and block the light, and weird things start to happen! Your shadow casts three times on the wall, blocking one of the lights each time, leaving two lights mixing in its absence. Find out which colors are created when just green and red mix, or blue and green, or red and blue! If you're more familiar with paint mixing, the answer might surprise you...

For , we opted to leave the lights spread apart instead of mixing them all into pure white light to give visitors a chance to see how the three colors interact, and their shadows start to disappear if moved to the edges. But we also chose lights with adjustable beam size and mounted them to be repositionable, meaning the museum can endlessly play with the display. This kind of flexibility is important for a museum that has a lot of repeat visitors and may want to change things up every once in a while!

A little Panoptic trivia: we tested three different sets of lights before we found the right kind for this museum and this context! Every consideration was taken to keep this exhibit safe (lights are behind acrylic and inside a locking case mounted with fans to keep it cool) and easy to maintain.

Interested? Reach out to us any old way and we can get you a customized, adjustable, reliable exhibit like this one for years of visitor engagement and exploration.

Panopticdesignbuild.com
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Address

Manchester, NH
03101-03111 (03110 ASSIGNED TO SUBURB BEDFORD)

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	7am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Website

http://www.panopticdesignbuild.com/

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