ISTUDIO Architects: Winner of World Design Awards 2021. The Kingman Island Environmental Education Center was designed as a part of a competition to intertwine with adjacent ecosystems, mimicking natural flows and exhibiting their processes for children and adults alike. This education and research center for the DC Department of Parks and Recreation will make use of passive strategies for heating/cooling/ventilating and regenerate wetlands. These “constructed wetlands” work with a “Living Machine” to demonstrate habitat restoration and natural forms of wastewater treatment and garner LEED innovative credits.

Landforms are built into the side of a hill, providing green space on top and in front of a well-lit, energy-efficient building that manages its stormwater on site. The building itself becomes a part of the landscape functionally and physically. The organic lines of a building built into the earth will mesh with the development of the 9/11 memorial – all while channeling rainwater for use in the building. The center rises from the landscape to offer a place from which to view the islands, the lake, the river, and the neighborhoods around them.

ARCHITECTURE + ECOSYSTEMS INTERTWINE

Let this place exemplify human settlement as a part of the evolving matrix of nature. Develop the site in such a way that the cycles of nature and the cycles of man are not at odds with each other. When we do this, people are happier and healthier, ecosystems are sustained and regenerated.

The Kingman Island Environmental Education Center will be designed to intertwine with adjacent ecosystems, mimicking natural flows and exhibiting this for children and adults alike. Like the Cusano Nature Center in Philadelphia, Kingman will make use of passive strategies for heating/cooling/ventilating and regenerate wetlands. These “constructed wetlands” will work with a “Living Machine” to demonstrate habitat restoration and natural forms of wastewater treatment.

The organic lines of a building built into the earth will mesh with the development of the 9/11 memorial and make a more cohesive whole. It rises from the landscape to offer a place from which to view the islands, the lake, the river, and the city around them.

Project Details
Firm
ISTUDIO Architects

Project Name
Kingman Island

Architect/Designer
Rick Schneider

World Design Awards Category
Cultural Concept

Project Location
Washington DC

Client
District of Columbia Department of General Services

Client Agency
District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation

Team
ISTUDIO Architects

Country
United States

Photography ©Credit
©ISTUDIO Architects

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For nearly 20 years, we at ISTUDIO have dedicated ourselves to the issues of design, architecture, and urbanism.  Ideas are our currency. We designed the first solar chimney for a public school in our nation’s capital. We transformed an “unusable hillside” at a park into a thriving community garden. We developed a salt storage facility into an award-winning design. We have collaborated with clients and communities around the globe to increase access to beautiful places and spaces — where we live, work, learn, play, and dream.