Project: National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
Client: Christopher Chadbourne & Associates
Project Phases: Schematic & Detail Design Phases, Bid & Fabrication Phase

Project Background:
Part of the River Center, three unique galleries expand visitors’ understanding of history, culture and stewardship of our nation’s rivers and their impact on our oceans. An indoor water fall greets you as you prepare to celebrate America's great rivers. The immersive RiverWays gallery invites you to enter a canal, explore a river cave; and discover the history, culture, artifacts, and people of the diverse and watery interior of the United States. Rivers to the Sea traces the story of water and rivers as they flow from streams to rivers to the ocean. RiverWorks invites children of all ages to explore through hands-on, water-based activities, they learn about rivers and what rivers mean to all of us. This children's "museum within a museum" keeps its river focus, with a water table and a pedal-powered water "cycle." The exhibit design for every gallery goes beyond traditional technologies of AV and interactives, plunging the designer, the owner, and the user into a watery world that is both challenging and memorable.

Challenge:
Christopher Chadbourne & Associates (CCA) were tasked to design a very unique and fitting museum, and memorable exhibits to connect the guest to the subject matter. As part of their work, CCA decided to include many water-based exhibits. The impact is amazing, however the implementation can be very difficult for the architect and the engineers and the general contractor.

Solution:
CCA called on It’s Alive Co. to provide expert design of the water exhibits and the associated filtration systems. Our team absorbed creative intent, analyzed architectural limitations, and then developed the technical designs. We worked regularly and seamlessly with the CCA exhibit design team. We saved precious budget by not traveling, and instead worked remotely - without any loss of connection with the team members.

The Result:
The IAC technical designs not only supported the exhibit design team, we also marked up engineers drawings for the facility design, supported questions from the GC, and provided RFI responses for the bid and award phase. The quality of the final installation of the water exhibits tells the whole story – use It’s Alive Co. and the result is great.

Project Quote:
“A huge THANK YOU… We always know to call on It’s Alive Co. whenever we have something unique to figure out.” – Chris Tebbutt, CCA Project Director