The new Environmental Learning Center is situated north of the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium’s Education Building, cascading down the hillside. The building offers direct access to the Zoo and also serves as a secure perimeter.

Conceived as “a loose collection of workshops under a sheltering canopy” the design features workshop “boxes” that are intentionally pulled apart to form a collaborative space in the center and eddies in between. Visual and physical connections are made between workshops and to the outdoors.

The workshops are distinct forms in plan and elevation. The treatment of the “skin” of the workshop “boxes” is designed to emulate the solid and void one experiences looking through the forest between trees. This approach fosters transparency inside and out; helping the building to integrate into its surroundings.

Set at the zoo perimeter along Animal Road, the Environmental Learning Center includes a bridge that connects to the trail system in the park. The building is grounded in this intimate hillside site. Workshop boxes are loosely arranged under a sheltering canopy roof.

The treatment of the “skin” of the workshop “boxes” is designed to emulate the solid and void one experiences looking through the forest between trees. This approach fosters transparency inside and out; helping the building to integrate into its surroundings.

Facing north, the Environmental Learning Center welcomes students and the public coming from the waterfront and other settings in the park. The sheltering roof rises to bring daylight in to the communal spaces inside.

The approach from the bridge offers views of Commencement Bay and the Cascade Mountains beyond. The science labs feature roll-up doors to enhance the connection to outdoors. The articulation of the building envelope emulates the solid and void of trees in the forest.

The new Environmental Learning Center is situated north of the Zoo’s Education Building, cascading down the hillside. The building offers direct access to the Zoo and also serves as a secure perimeter. The eddies are expressed between workshop boxes with glass and aluminum.

The public entrance to the Environmental Learning Center is from the south. A boardwalk protects the surrounding habitat. The design of the rail system extends through the building and to the bridge on the north side of the building.

The heart of the Environmental Learning Center is the collaborative space, connecting the workshops and the two floors. The space engages the hillside to create a setting that brings the whole school together. Transparency between interior spaces and to the outdoors is essential to the learning environment.

The eddies are the spaces between workshops where students can brainstorm ideas, critique their work or have a contemplative setting for reflection. They also provide a close visual connection to the learning environment outdoors.

Plywood walls and a portable display system integrated throughout the building invite collaborative as well as individual project-oriented learning.

The workshops in the Environmental Learning Center are connected visually as well as physically with roll-up doors to the collaborative space in the center and the eddies in between. Surfaces throughout the building invite brainstorming, experimentation and display.

Learning occurs everywhere, with an inviting collaborative space that ties the whole environment together while offering an ever-present connection to the outdoors.

Francis Zera Photography

Francis Zera Photography

Francis Zera Photography