How Can a Building be Like a Tree?

CONSTRUCTION HAS RECENTLY BEEN COMPLETED ON ONE OF THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY INTELLIGENT ACADEMIC BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD:

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the $6 million Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. The project, which was designed by William McDonough + Partners, underscores the concept of using nature as a model for all design. In fact, the Lewis Center was modeled aftera tree: by making use of high-tech materials, the building absorbs, stores and conserves energy.

The Lewis Center provides the Environmental Studies program with a model of sustainability and will serve as a living, teaching tool to reinforce the program's curriculum. The building and landscape are designed to teach mindfulness of the environmental impacts of development, material use and energy consumption.

The 13,500-square-foot building includes classrooms, offices, an auditorium and a sunlight-filled atrium. It also contains a biological wastewater treatment system, known as a "living machine," that uses a series of marsh- like ecosystems to purify the water, The building incorporates a number of strategies to achieve high energy efficiency, and photovoltaics will provide much of its energy needs.

The landscape of the Lewis Center supports its educational mission, Portions of the site reestablish the indigenous habitat of its northern Ohio location, while others manage storm water on-site, engage students in organic food cultivation and provide spaces for social uses.

"The X generation doesn't see much hope in the world," says David Orr, chair of the Environmental Studies Program. "I wanted to give them a sense of hope and the competence to act on that hope. This building gives them possibilities, not just wishful thinking."