Designed by Catalyst Architecture LLC of Prescott, Ariz., the 16,500-square-foot San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Administrative Headquarters and Visitors Center in Los Banos, Calif., achieves LEED Platinum certification and net zero energy design.
According toMatthew Ackerman, LEED AP, AIA, principal of Catalyst Architecture, the firm specializes in “place-based interpretive design,” which means the architecture interprets, or “tells the story” of a place from its cultural, historic and/or physical characteristics. For the project, the firm interpreted a number of different aspects of the region through the architecture, leading to the choice of metal as an exterior cladding. “The architectural legacy of the Central Valley is largely one of agrarian buildings,” Ackerman explains. They especially looked at a lot of the old barn structures that had tin metal roofs and metal siding. “We noticed that metal was a really common building material for the older barn structures in the region, just as the old wooden timbers were,” he says.
While the firm “told the story” of numerous other aspects of the refuge through the architecture, Ackerman says it was the interpretation of the Central Valley’s agrarian roots that led it to choosing metal. At the main entrance, the lobby is characterized by heavy wood times that create a barn-like structure as visitors enter. A standing seam metal roof and weathered steel panels on the building’s exterior walls tie the architecture language of the building to the older agrarian structures of the Central Valley, Ackerman says.
The project features 24-gauge, 17-inch Design Span hp standing seam metal roof panels in bare Zincalume from Fontana, Calif.-based AEP Span, to which the 55Kw photovoltaic array from SOLON Corp., Tucson, Ariz., is attached with mounting clips fromS-5! Attachment Solutions, Colorado Springs, Colo. For the low-slope cricked sections of the roof, the project utilized AEP Span’s mechanically seamed Span-Lok hp panels. Additionally, the welcome center features structural insulated panels (SIPs) from Premier Building Systems, Puyallup, Wash.; weathered steel skin from Top Built Inc., Rancho Cordova, Calif.; and operable clerestory windows from Guardian Industries, Auburn Hills, Mich., for natural daylight and ventilation.
“A metal roof, combined with a rough timber frame and tall windows, was a natural fit for the refuge and the agrarian roots of the Central Valley region,” Ackerman says. “The inverted roof design over the administrative wing of the facility is symbolic of the wings of a bird in flight, which interprets the refuge’s role as a vital migratory stopover point along the Pacific Flyway for large concentrations of waterfowl, shorebirds and other waterbirds.”
The building envelope was critical to the project’s energy efficiency, Ackerman says, from the size, placement and specifications of the glazing, to taking advantage of natural daylight and ventilation opportunities, which help reduce the demand on the building’s mechanical and lighting systems.
One of the challenges for the project was the building orientation. “To reduce solar heat gain while still taking advantage of natural daylight for a building that is non-optimally oriented (along a north-south axis), we reduced the net glazing on the long east and west exposures of the building, and instead found opportunities to let in north light into the building’s interior through the use of north-facing clerestory windows and ‘wall monitors’,” explains Ackerman.
The visitor center features a 5,000-square-foot exhibit hall with interactive educational exhibits on wildlife and habitats, tule elk viewing and a multipurpose room, as well as 10,000 square feet devoted to the complex’s administrative functions.
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Administrative Headquarters and Visitors Center, Los Banos, Calif.
Awards: 2013 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Green Facility Award, 2013 U.S. Department of the Interior Green Facility Award, and the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy-Energy and Water Management Award
Owner: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Architect: Catalyst Architecture LLC, Prescott, Ariz.
General contractor: West Coast Contractors, Reno, Nev.
Metal roof installer/weathered steel: Top Built Inc., Rancho Cordova, Calif., (916) 826-1642
Metal roof panels: AEP Span, Fontana, Calif.,
www.aepspan.com
Operable windows: Guardian Industries, Auburn Hills, Mich., www.guardian.com
Photovoltaics: SOLON Corp., Tucson, Ariz., www.solon.com
Roof mounting clips: S-5! Attachment Solutions, Colorado Springs, Colo., www.s-5.com
Structural insulated panels: Premier Building Systems, Puyallup, Wash., www.premiersips.com