Flash 8 Required

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Prairie Learning Center

Prairie City, IA

The centerpiece of the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge is the Prairie Learning Center, an interpretive center that houses extensive interactive exhibits, a state-of-the-art orientation film theater, bookstore, classrooms, research laboratories, and administrative offices. This project was the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's unprecedented restoration of 8,000 acres of rolling cornfields to native tall-grass prairie. OZ Architecture was responsible for master planning, programming, and designing the Prairie Learning Center. It includes trails, auto-tour routes, bison handling corrals, remote open-air classrooms, and a maintenance facility. Significant sustainable design elements were utilized in this building, including daylighting, resource-efficient and non-toxic building materirals, as well as ground coupled heat pumps.

PROJECT TEAM

Jim Bershof
Rick Petersen - Project Manager

SERVICES PROVIDED

Architecture
Interior Design
Sustainable Design

AWARDS

AIA Merit Award, Colorado Chapter 1999

Energy Efficiency Design Award, MidAmerican Energy, 1995