Aldo Leopold Legacy Center
Fitting into the Larger Landscape
The design team thought carefully about the Legacy Center. They considered not only its energy efficient features and green design aspects, but worked meticulously through how the building would fit into the larger context of its local environment, the people who use it, and the landscape of rural Wisconsin: in short, the way the Legacy Center would inhabit its world.
Ecological and cultural values determined placement: the Legacy Center would be close to the Shack without overshadowing it, it would necessarily be above the floodplain, and it would utilize a site already disrupted by human use (an area where two houses had been) rather than disturb a natural area. By keeping the footprint of the improvements to a minimum the remaining site could then be restored to the appropriate ecological communities: prairie, savanna, and wetland.
The team considered the visitor experience, too. How would visitors first approach the building? How would they continue to feel connected to nature once inside? The center employs a campus layout, with many points of access between indoor and outdoor spaces. Native plant gardens around the building, parking lots, and paths further emphasize the beauty of our natural heritage.
The footprint of all impervious areas (building and parking areas) have been kept to an absolute minimum, allowing rain to be absorbed by the vegetation restored on the site. An aqueduct carries the storm water from the roof of the main building to a rain garden, a demonstration of reintegrating rain that does fall on impervious areas slowly back into the ground. A small water feature built into the aqueduct will allow the courtyards to be filled with the subtle and soothing sound of moving water.
Photo: Mark Heffron/The Kubala Washatko Architects