Environmental Learning Center
Hillcrest Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Resilient Design = Resilient Communities
The Environmental Learning Center was designed with the idea of resilience in mind, centered around the desire to make transitory spaces such as the front plaza, rear café and seating area, central atrium and stepped seating spaces ripe for engagement and informal encounters. The connection of spaces of all scales from the large gallery, multipurpose room and café to the classrooms and labs via the central circulatory spine allows the program to be united within an order that corresponds to the elevational change of the site and nuances of the neighborhood and environment.
Environmental Systems Informed Design
The Environmental Learning Center is highly compact and tightly insulated to reduce heat transfer. Passive cooling strategies like cross and stack ventilation are also possible by keeping both main and rear entrances open to promote air flow through the central atrium, allowing the central atrium to remain comfortable despite solar gain from the skylight. The window to wall ratio is relatively low make up for the impact of the skylight during the summer, but the internal windows to the atrium allow for adequate access to natural light and make the space feel more expansive.
Site of Intersections
The site is located on the South end of the site of Hillcrest Park at the intersection of North Aiken Avenue and Hillcrest St, where the elevational change is the most manageable. It is accessible from the main entrance facing Hillcrest Street as well as Columbo Street and North Aiken from the North via the rear nature study area, connecting all 3 major surrounding roads.
The majority of the trees along the North side of the side were left untouched in order to create an outside study area that was more wild and unintentionally cultivated. As a space for educational programming such as outdoor classes, camping and workshops, visitors experience ‘nature’ in a more honest but also controlled environment. The steep elevational change on the North also allows for the siting of rain gardens along the Northeast side to handle rainwater management.
Parti
The massing parti of the building consists of 2 rectangles separated elevationally via the site’s slope that intersect one another via a central slope. Public program occupies the lower “receiving” cuboid, private program occupies the upper “intersecting” cuboid and are linked by a large two story atrium and stair in the connecting trapezoid space.