The Star Spangled Banner Flag House Museum tells the story of the making of the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write what became the national anthem during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814.  The museum property includes the historic Mary Pickersgill House, where the flag was sewn on commission from the commander of Fort McHenry which guarded the entrance to the Baltimore harbor.

A donor provided money for the construction of a new museum structure to contain museum program space and to depict the Star Spangled Banner.  The actual Star Spangled Banner, a national treasure, is a featured exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.  RCG Architects recommended against creating a facsimile of the flag, as this could create confusion regarding authenticity.  RCG's proposal for the new museum building was to depict the flag in glass wall at full scale on the front elevation of the building.  The tremendous scale of the Star Spangled Banner - 30' high by 42' wide - provides a powerful backdrop to the diminutive scale of Pickersgill House and a dramatic display of the graphic power of the flag imagery.

The flag wall was designed as a structural glazing system.  The glass is a low-iron, super clear glass laminated glass with a red, white and blue ceramic frit to render the flag.  A German manufacturer was able to provide the large scale of the individual glass components and the specialty requirements of the ceramic frit. 

The building exterior is faced with Vermont gray granite on the primary elevation with the glass flag.  Other exterior materials include brick, wood windows and shutters, slate roof and copper gutters and downspouts.