Nine years after the Museum of Maritime and Seafood Industry in Biloxi, Miss., was damaged by Hurricane Katrina’s 30-foot tidal surge, the museum reopened its doors to the public in a brand new, H3-designed building on August 1.
The $7 million, 19,580-sf museum houses 10,000 sf of exhibits and gallery spaces, meeting rooms, a production shop, administrative areas, and storage. It is a final milestone representing six years of effort by the city, the museum, and the H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture design team.
Leading the project was Biloxi-native Daria Pizzetta, H3 Partner-in-Charge. “Everything I knew as a child is gone,” Pizzetta says, whose grandmother donated much of the family’s maritime memorabilia to the museum just weeks before the hurricane. “This project [was] more than designing a museum, it’s rebuilding the heritage of my Gulf Coast hometown,” he said.
The materials used in the design of the museum are locally sourced and make reference to the Point Cadet neighborhood. The design itself mimics the seafood factories that were once housed in the neighborhood, incorporating a white clapboard patter, corrugated tin roofs, and open front porches. The building’s porch structures, as well as interior wood detailing, make reference to coastal wooden pier structures.
The building’s elevation meets Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements for constructing within a Coastal A flood plain.
A museum's premier artifact is the sloop Nydia, built in Biloxi in 1896. Nydia measures 30 feet long and 40 feet high, and is the focal point of the gallery that was designed around it. The use of glass as the primary enclosure of the main gallery creates a “ship in a bottle” effect, letting the Nydia be visible from the exterior.
Related Stories
Green | Nov 13, 2022
NREL report: Using photovoltaic modules with longer lifetimes is a better option than recycling
A new report from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) says PV module lifetime extensions should be prioritized over closed-loop recycling to reduce demand for new materials.
Green | Nov 13, 2022
Global building emissions reached record levels in 2021
Carbon-dioxide emissions from building construction and operations hit an all-time high in 2021, according to the most recent data compiled by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction.
University Buildings | Nov 13, 2022
University of Washington opens mass timber business school building
Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, the first mass timber building at Seattle campus of Univ. of Washington, was recently completed. The 84,800-sf building creates a new hub for community, entrepreneurship, and innovation, according the project’s design architect LMN Architects.
Architects | Nov 10, 2022
What’s new at 173 architecture firms for 2022
More than 295 U.S. architecture and architecture-engineering (AE) firms participated in BD+C's 2022 Giants 400 survey. As part of the Giants survey process, participating firms are asked to describe their most impactful firm innovations and noteworthy company moves in the past 12 months. Here is a collection of the most compelling business and project innovations and business moves from the 2022 Architecture Giants.
Giants 400 | Nov 9, 2022
Top 30 Data Center Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
HDR, Corgan, Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects, and Gensler top the ranking of the nation's largest data center architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Nov 8, 2022
Top 110 Sports Facility Architecture and AE Firms for 2022
Populous, HOK, Gensler, and Perkins and Will top the ranking of the nation's largest sports facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Industry Research | Nov 8, 2022
U.S. metros take the lead in decarbonizing their built environments
A new JLL report evaluates the goals and actions of 18 cities.
Hotel Facilities | Nov 8, 2022
6 hotel design trends for 2022-2023
Personalization of the hotel guest experience shapes new construction and renovation, say architects and construction experts in this sector.
Green | Nov 8, 2022
USGBC and IWBI will develop dual certification pathways for LEED and WELL
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) will expand their strategic partnership to develop dual certification pathways for LEED and WELL.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Nov 8, 2022
Renovation work outpaces new construction for first time in two decades
Renovations of older buildings in U.S. cities recently hit a record high as reflected in architecture firm billings, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA).