Centerpiece for Ecological Education
LEED Silver Certification by U.S. Green Building Council
Columbus Design Award by The American Institute of Architects
This facility serves as an educational and interpretive nature center in which visitors can cultivate their knowledge of the park’s diverse ecosystems. At the heart of the building is a 53-feet long living stream, which reproduces the riparian habitats found within the park, and other interactive exhibits encouraging engagement by visitors with the natural world around them.
The primary challenge faced by the design team was how to place a building in a unique and fragile natural setting. The building was carefully located to stay out of the boundaries of the Darby Watershed Accord, which governs development adjacent to the Darby watershed. Stormwater runoff from both building and site are channeled into a series of bioswales and wetlands planted with native species.
This Nature Center also employs the principles of climate-responsive design, including proper orientation, natural ventilation, a highly-insulated building envelope, and the use of geothermal ground-source heat pumps. A green roof planted with native vegetation integrates the building into the landscapes, and because of this, killdeer and other native birds have been observed nesting on the roof.
Time-tested insight. Forward-thinking design.
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