Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center & Archaearium

Project Details:  A 14,000 square foot (approximate – combined) historical, geographical and sociological visitor center and archaearium based on America’s first permanent settlement.  The project was initiated in October 2005 and completed in April 2007 with a final production cost of $2,664,424.

Work:  The project included the following work / elements:  over 60 custom artifact cases, large and small vitrines, carpeting, linoleum flooring, floor inlaid graphics, theater construction (including seating), AV production and installation with 360 degree immersion, digital graphics on various substrates, wall murals, LSI lighting and tracks, Lutron control system, custom artifact mounts for over 1000 artifacts, dioramas and scenic work, and exterior exhibit elements.

Challenges:  The first challenge we had to overcome was our client’s budget constraints.  After being shortlisted based on qualifications and pricing, we worked with the client to identify value-engineering solutions to save 20% from our original bid price without affecting the design-intent of the project.

Another challenge we encountered during this project was with some of the graphics we had subcontracted out to another company.  Due to a tight timeline, we thought that it was best to contract out some of the graphics to meet the deadlines.  However, after comparing the contracted graphics to our in-house graphics, we realized that the colors were noticeably different.  At this point we didn’t feel that we had enough time to get the contractor to fix their color matching.  Consequently, we had our own graphics department pause their concurrent flow of work to put in a priority order for this project.  All graphics were ultimately completed and delivered on time.

All original schedule, cost, and performance requirements of this project were fully met.