Kreher Preserve & Nature Center Environmental Education Building

Bringing the Outside Inside

The new Environmental Education Building, nestled within the Kreher Preserve & Nature Center in Auburn, Alabama, promotes the importance of harmony between nature and humans, cultivating a sense of stewardship toward our community and environment. The design, inspired by nature-based learning and imagined as an extension of the preserves trail network, features a central spine corridor, a metaphor for a “learning trail” from which classrooms and administrative areas extend. Light-filled classrooms alternate with open and covered porches, extending the learning space directly into the natural woodlands.

Building as a Teaching Tool

The project’s architecture serves as a powerful demonstration of sustainable, low embodied carbon solutions for the future. The building’s structure is predominantly all-wood, utilizing mass timber for the main structure, light-frame wood for non-load-bearing partitions and deck structure, and wood finishes throughout. This minimal use of concrete and steel significantly minimizes its embodied carbon and maximizes its carbon sequestration. The structure reinforces the project’s educational mission by showcasing the potential of locally sourced and locally manufactured wood products. Passive design principles, including butterfly roofs with operable windows, low-energy fans, and south-facing covered exterior corridors, provide ventilation and shading. This strategy minimizes dependence on air-conditioning and limits the area of conditioned spaces, which is crucial for the humid Alabama climate.

Project Highlights

• Regional Pioneer: A beautiful, educational facility designed as an extension of the natural environment, cultivating environmental stewardship.
• Minimal Embodied Carbon: The predominantly all-wood structure including CLT and Glulam, minimizes embodied carbon and maximizes carbon sequestration.
• Passive Design: Utilizes butterfly roofs and shaded exterior corridors to provide natural ventilation and shading, limiting dependence on air-conditioning.
• Locally Sourced Materials: Demonstrates the value of locally sourced and manufactured wood products as a sustainable solution.