CYLBURN ARBORETUM VOLLMER CENTER Baltimore, Maryland
Master planning efforts which explored options for new and renovated facilities to accommodate existing and future staff and visitation needs, as well as subsequent design of a new 10,100-SF nature center.
■ Began with an overall site-wide visioning effort
Clad in natural materials and following the site’s natural grade change, the new Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Center is designed to sit quietly within the landscape so as not to detract from or overpower the historic Cylburn Mansion. Slate sculptings, a sustainable alternative to the stone found on the site’s historic mansion, cover solid forms that frame a view through the building.
■ Information station, outdoor amphitheater, gift shop
The light-filled lobby focuses views out to the arboretum’s large collection of maple trees. The angle of the building’s two-story volume further opens and enhances the view, directing the eye to a long vista across the upper level terrace to the natural landscape beyond. The wide staircase echoes the descent of the topography and the large window wall within the multipurpose room continues to expose visitors to the natural environment.
■ Flexible orientation and exhibit space
■ Multipurpose room accommodating up to 250 ■ Offices, catering kitchen, support spaces ■ Sustainable design features
CYLBURN ARBORETUM VOLLMER CENTER
“The Vollmer Center is a model of what green technology can achieve, illustrating how we can reduce energy use, conserve water, and help to restore our environment.” —US Senator Benjamin L. Cardin
CYLBURN ARBORETUM VOLLMER CENTER
CYLBURN ARBORETUM VOLLMER CENTER
JEAN R. PACKARD OCCOQUAN CENTER Occoquan, Virginia
Sited on a bluff overlooking the Occoquan River, the Jean R. Packard Center takes advantage of the natural topography and separates the building’s primary functions—interpretation, visitor amenities, and multipurpose space—and usage patterns. The facility is being designed to educate visitors about the park environment as well as to serve as a multipurpose event space. The upper level will house an environmental education space which will be open to the public as well as dually serve as a lobby for functions and open directly onto the upper terraces and garden area. The lower level will primarily serve Park-related functions and will contain offices and a café opening directly onto the lower terrace with outdoor seating. Driven by the contrast between, and union of, two halves—one light and open (public/events) and the other solid and heavy (support)—the architectural expression is articulated through the use of different structural systems and materials: delicate steel and glass on the west side allowing for expansive views of the river, and heavy timber and wood cladding on the east. Similar patterning between the halves ties them together to create a cohesive structure.
■ Visitor orientation, environmental education space, exhibit, café ■ Multipurpose event rental space, commercial kitchen, event preparation and staging spaces ■ Outdoor terrace, pavilion, waterfront plaza, trails
JEAN R. PACKARD OCCOQUAN CENTER
THE NATURE PLACE Reading, Pennsylvania
A working example of conservation principles and sustainable development, the new Nature Place embodies Berks Nature’s belief that nature is essential to our quality of life. Sited adjacent to an existing classroom building, orientation of the new structure celebrates the environment, providing panoramic views of the surrounding wetlands, making a visual connection with the nearby Neversink Mountain and maximizing daylighting. Oversized doors in the classroom spaces open to an outdoor deck overlooking the wetlands, gracefully merging the indoors and out. Deferring to the surroundings, building materials include recycled stone from farm buildings and reclaimed wood from Pennsylvania mushroom farms. The new center will serve as a space for education classrooms, community meetings, and administration space for Berks Nature.
■ “Clean” and “dirty” classrooms, outdoor learning spaces, nature play area ■ Lobby, conference rooms, offices, support spaces ■ Trails through wetlands and natural habitats ■ LEED Gold Certified
THE NATURE PLACE
“ Our instructions to the architects were to create a simple design, easy to maintain, functional, and respectful of the park. What we have isn’t anything I could have envisioned, but it is everything we dreamed of.” —Kim Murphy, President, Berks Nature
HERITAGE MUSEUMS & GARDENS WELCOME CENTER Sandwich, Massachusetts
Programming and design of a new 7,000-SF welcome center and arrival sequence that creates an engaging and welcoming initial experience for visitors. Meant to create a sense of discovery, the siting and design of the center slowly reveals itself to visitors upon approach, creating a sense of anticipation that foreshadows the experience visitors will have as they explore the grounds. As on the site, where features are concealed and then revealed as you come upon them, the center is discovered as you move towards it, and then through it. Inside, a glass-enclosed lobby directs the eye to the site’s signature water flume and provides visitors with expansive views of the lush landscape. Contemporary in design and materials, yet reminiscent of traditional Cape Cod architecture in scale and form, the welcome center responds to its surroundings and context, including the kettle-kame topography and existing building scattered around the 100-acre site. The program for the new facility includes an open lobby, information desk, ticketing, gift shop, board room, offices and storage spaces.
■ Began with an overall site-wide visioning effort ■ Visitor orientation and information, ticketing, gift shop ■ Board room, offices, member’s area ■ Improved entry sequence, circulation, and parking ■ Sustainable design features
HERITAGE MUSEUMS & GARDENS WELCOME CENTER
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT VERNON FORD ORIENTATION CENTER
Mount Vernon, Virginia
Upon entering George Washington’s historic estate, the first impression is of an agricultural pasture. Only after turning left do visitors encounter the intimate entry courtyard of the Ford Orientation Center, the remainder of which is concealed behind a modest garden wall. This journey metaphorically interprets the one that Washington himself designed for visitors to his home. Inside, an elliptical floor-toceiling wall of glass embraces nature, visually connecting visitors to Washington’s landscape. Of its own time yet respectful of the historic setting, the new center is designed “in the spirit of George Washington”—representing the design team’s interpretation of what George Washington himself might have created if he had all of the options available to designers today.
■ Began with an overall site-wide visioning effort ■ Orientation exhibits ■ Ticketing, visitor information, retail services ■ Dedicated individual and group entries and amenities
“The reactions of the estate’s staff and visitors have been uniformly positive—all are impressed not just by the content and message of the buildings, but by the sensitive design solution and the way the buildings have transformed the visitor experience at Mount Vernon.” —Jim Rees, former Executive Director, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
MORVEN MUSEUM & GARDEN VISITOR CENTER Princeton, New Jersey
Bearing a secondary relationship to the site’s main house, a National Historic Landmark, the new Morven Museum & Garden visitor center has a welcoming character and strong relationship to the surrounding gardens. The design breaks down the center’s massing into connecting parts with varying heights related to the site’s existing outbuildings, while maintaining a maximum building height to further minimize the impact on the site. Entering through the garden gate, visitors follow a path to the building in a gracious sequence that allows for views of the main house and gardens. A clear and welcoming destination, the new center houses all practical necessities, allowing the main house to be used purely as a museum and preserving the site’s most important element..
■ Began with an overall site-wide visioning effort ■ Visitor reception/orientation, ticketing, gift shop ■ Flexible multipurpose event and gathering space ■ Offices, conference room, catering space ■ Coordination with local preservation review committees and councils
MORVEN MUSEUM & GARDEN VISITOR CENTER
DUPONT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER Wilmington, Delaware
Elevated above the marshlands, the new DuPont Environmental Education Center at the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge responds to the dynamics of the surrounding natural systems—tidal river and wetlands—as well as infrastructural site elements: an adjacent railway, high voltage power lines, and multiple utility rights of way.
■ Indoor and outdoor exhibits, multipurpose room, ecology classroom, offices
Traversing the entrance bridge, visitors experience the tenuous connection between man and nature. Seen from afar, the building acts as a beacon marking the terminus of the city’s riverwalk. From within, windows on the north façade frame views to the city, while views to the south open out to the natural setting.
■ Sustainable design features
Housing exhibits, classrooms, and offices for nature education and related recreation activities, as well as community meeting and gathering space, the building enhances and encourages the relationship between urban development along the waterfront and the natural environment.
■ Multi-level viewing tower and terraces, boardwalk ■ Design Architect: GWWO, Inc./ Architects; Managing Firm: Becker Morgan Group
DUPONT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER
DUPONT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER
“ The success of this project is due, in large part, to the vision of Alan Reed, who envisioned the building sitting here at the edge of the wildlife refuge...” —Mike Purzycki, Executive Director, Riverfront Development Corporation
DUPONT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER
HONORS & AWARDS
Recognition of Design Excellence
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Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention1 Gainesville, FL ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention ■ Engineering News and Record Southeast’s Best Project
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Ford Orientation Center2 Mount Vernon, VA ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Citation Award 2
■ AIA Baltimore Grand Design Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center3 Mount Vernon, VA ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Citation Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention 3
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Education Center4 Church Creek, MD ■ AIA Maryland 2020 Public Building of the Year ■ AIA Chesapeake Bay Excellence in Design ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention
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Robinson Nature Center5 Columbia, MD ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Citation Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention ■ USGBC Maryland Wintergreen Sustainability Award ■ WoodWorks Institutional Wood Design Award ■ MD Office of Tourism Green/Sustainable Tourism Award Killens Pond State Park Nature Center6 Felton, DE ■ AIA Delaware Design Citation Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention (unbuilt) ■ USGBC Maryland Wintergreen Sustainability Award Everglades National Park Visitor Center7 Homestead, FL ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Honor Award ■ ASLA Maryland & Potomac Chapters Award
DuPont Environmental Education Center8 Wilmington, DE ■ AIA Delaware Design Honor Award ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Merit Award ■ AIA Baltimore Grand Design Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award ■ IFMA Delaware Chapter Green Building Award National Sailing Hall of Fame9 Annapolis, MD
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■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention (unbuilt)
Homestead National Monument of America Heritage Center10 Beatrice, NE ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award ■ Sika Sarnafil Décor Design Award ■ NEBRASKALand Foundation Rising Star Award ■ Nebraska Travel Industry Outstanding Tourist Attraction
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Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Train Station Rehabilitation Harpers Ferry, WV ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Citation Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Honorable Mention Hampton National Historic Site Mansion Renovation Towson, MD ■ Preservation Maryland Stewardship Award
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■ Baltimore County Historical Trust Preservation Project Award
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Harpers Ferry, WV ■ McGraw Block Restoration ■ AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Honor Award ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award Stieff Silver Building Baltimore, MD ■ AIA Baltimore Design Award (GWWO Design Studio) ■ Buildings Magazine Modernization Award
The Nature Place Reading, PA ■ AIA Baltimore Good Design is Good Business
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