=Museum of Life and Science Woodland Classroom
Museum of Life and Science Woodland Classroom
In Situ Studio
ARCHITECTS
In Situ Studio
PHOTOS
Richard Leo Johnson // Atlantic Archives Photography (8), In Situ Studio (2)
STATUS
Built
SIZE
1000 Sqft - 3000 Sqft
YEAR
2015
LOCATION
Durham, NC, United States
TYPE
Cultural › Museum
The woodland classroom is located on the edge a forest on the south side of the Museum’s campus.
The building is a flexible space for science learning that blends indoor spaces with the surrounding natural environment.
We worked with the museum to master plan this and other portions of their expanding campus and locate structures to minimize disturbance to the surrounding environs and, in the case of the woodland classroom, maximize connections with the natural environment.
The classroom building sits quietly at the edge of the woods, with an opaque entry façade, and opens to views of the back woods. The Woodland Classroom Building is the first of a series of buildings planned for the previously undeveloped south forest of the Museum of Life and Science.
Siting of the building establishes an arrival sequence that can support future structures and relates to views of a creek valley forest.
The design process relied on coordination with museum staff to respond to existing site infrastructure and plan for future improvements, working closely with program directors and a staff landscape architect.
Support spaces - two bathrooms and a kitchen - are arranged along the north, entry side of the building, and visitors pass through this thick “wall” as they enter the main classroom space.
The roof, low over the support spaces, rises to the south, towards the forest, and is supported by a perforated wall that captures patches of the forest view. The main classroom is easily divided in two by a folding partition. Future buildings will be arranged in close vicinity to the Woodland Classroom to create a gathering court.
The building is located on flat ground at the edge of a creek valley, supported by a slab-on-grade on perimeter footings. The frame is of wood, with custom trusses achieving the roof cantilevers, and steel used only to support the track in the folding partition transom.
Siding is fiber cement, except at the north entry wall, which is finished with Atlantic White Cedar. The roof is standing seam galvalum.
Inside, finishes are very direct, with a stained and polished concrete floor and sheetrock walls. Windows punctuate the south wall and draw the view to the southern forest.
Lower ceilings above the bathrooms and kitchen allow space for air handling equipment. A small extension of the slab creates an arrival porch under the generous over hang on the north side of the building.
