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The new Alley Pond Environmental Center in Queens, New York is a gateway to the area’s tidal wetland flora, fauna, and nature trails, sheltering the center and its visitors from a neighboring sewage pumping station and major thoroughfare.
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Creating a new entrance to Alley Pond Park, the new building’s massing welcomes park visitors into the lobby—to a long view of the wetlands beyond and to the ‘back porch’ entrance to the trails. The green brick façade hides the adjacent exposed sewage pumping station.
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Stepped seating encourages classes to spill out under the roof’s protective wing, creating opportunities to continue the educational programming out of doors and throughout the site.
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The angled bright green brick façade and sloped roof creates a welcoming and expressive entry point.
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Front elevation - the sloped roof is expressive of capturing water, directing it to the building’s rain garden and toward bioswales.
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Rear elevation - the roof hovers above the classrooms creating a sheltering wing and controlling solar gain and glare; large windows frame views to the wetlands beyond
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Flexible classroom space can be opened to accommodate large groups and closed for small groups depending on number of students and visitors.
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The building systems are exposed to visitors through a large window in a gallery-like setting allowing APEC staff to teach the ins and outs of sustainable building.
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The new environmental center and its trails are open to the public. Use by the public is expected to increase due to awareness raised by the new building.
Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) is located at a haphazard urban boundary where the Cross Island Parkway and the Old Douglaston Pumping Station abut the tidal wetlands of Alley Creek. The center offers an immersive learning experience inspired by the upland and tidal wetland flora and fauna for 50,000 New York City public school students each year and its surrounding community.
Based on needs defined by the NYC Parks Department and the Alley Pond Environmental Center staff, the new environmental center will expand APEC’s teaching environment both indoors and out, by maximizing the number of classrooms and gathering spaces, and by providing a building that expresses and exemplifies harmony between the built and natural environment on a difficult site. Using direct input from educators and staff, the design of the building will not only redefine this urban park but also function as a teaching tool for park visitors of all ages.
The building will delineate the edge of the park, buffering highway noise while acting as a gateway to the wetland park beyond. The sloping form of the roof will give APEC a much-needed street presence while also funneling the roof’s storm water to a prominent rain garden.
As part of the design process, we collaborated with a community-driven urban planning, design and development non-profit to create a lesson plan highlighting the relationship of the wetland ecosystem to the building and its urban context. The lesson plan that resulted from this collaboration was not only integrated into the design of the building but will provide teaching materials for the staff and students during and after the construction process.
Areas to house the center’s live animals will be included within the building, and mechanical and environmental systems will be exposed to further imbue APEC’s pedagogy in the design of the building. Classrooms are carried out-of-doors under an expansive sheltering roof and act as individual trailheads to the nature walks beyond. The building will utilize sustainable strategies to achieve a minimum LEED Silver rating.
Alley Pond Environmental Center
Category
Un-built
Description
CATEGORY AWARDED*
*If different from category of submission.
FIRM CREDIT(S)
Submitting Architecture Firm
Leroy Street Studio
Additional Architecture Firm Credits (if named)
CHAPTER
AIA New York State
PROJECT LOCATION
Little Neck, New York
PRIMARY USE/TYPE
Education – General
IMAGE CREDITS
Leroy Street Studio