The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art

Over an 18-month period, an existing building in downtown St. Petersburg was fully and meticulously transformed into the 134,000 square foot ultra-modern landmark James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, covering an entire city block.  The interior design features earth tones and sandstone to immerse visitors in the American West environment.  The museum features an expansive collection of Native American Indian and Western cultural art pieces, a special area for rotating collections, a 129-seat auditorium, a restaurant, Pilates studio and a day spa. 

Siebein Associates provided comprehensive acoustic consulting services for this remarkable museum from schematic design through construction administration including acoustical analysis and recommendations for acoustic treatments and finishes for each space in the building, sound isolation systems for the 3-story parking garage, AV systems for the Community Room, and design and sound control recommendations for MEP systems, mechanical and electrical equipment and rooms, and fountain pump equipment. 

A particularly interesting aspect of this project was how to quieten airflow within the gallery spaces without sacrificing comfort. Siebein Associates designed, built, tested and recommended an ingenious solution for an HVAC return air plenum system that operates within the gallery wall spaces, quietly pulling air through perforated screens at the bottom of the walls, moving the air freely and quietly between the studs to evenly distribute air flow across the entire face of a perforated metal panel screen through flow hoods at the top of the walls.

Siebein Associates’ recommended design was implemented throughout the gallery spaces within the museum achieving excellent results.