Grange Insurance Audubon Center Columbus, Ohio

Services Provided

Urban Park Design
Sustainable Design
Construction Documentation

People Involved

Tom Stephens

 

Awards

2008 AIA Cincinnati Committee On The Environment Sustainability Award

Creation of a nature preserve and education center in the middle of an urban downtown environment

Located on five acres of the Whittier Peninsula, the LEED Gold Grange Insurance Audubon Center is the region’s first Audubon education center. The building and site development are integrated as an educational environment with interdependent man-made and natural systems. Conceptual design for a Children’s Garden and Amphitheater were also part of initial planning to develop the site as an environmental education and nature center.

The site design responds to the building’s incorporation of passive solar design, geothermal heating, green roof technologies, and high efficiency fixtures to reduce potable water demands. It uses sustainable elements such as permeable pavement to increase site infiltration,

rain gardens and bioswales to reduce pollutants and manage stormwater runoff, reflective materials to reduce the heat island effect and minimize light trespassing, and site specific plant material to increase habitat and promote biodiversity.

The existing topography was maintained to minimize any disturbance of the project area’s natural vegetated perimeter. Natural and technological systems are strategically and subtly introduced throughout the site development, including the geothermal wells. The integration of these sustainable elements help to communicate the message of environmental education to Columbus inner-city school children and nature center visitors.