The first LEED-Platinum museum celebrates the link between Southern California’s water infrastructure and the evolution of life. The educational museums are designed as living examples of environmental sustainability. The modern design is in the tradition of monumental, honorific architecture, and features steel-clad monoliths blazing across each façade, while latticed loggias give a dramatic processional feeling through filtered light. The 65,000-square-foot museum is a give-back to the city for accepting the seven-year construction project that created an emergency water source, and pays tribute to the future of the area without being a detriment. The museum honors the desert, the clients, and the concept of true sustainability, while also achieving a timeless grandeur to be admired for generations to come.
Insulated towers
Banner blocks heat
Towers lead to plaza
Loggia add shade
Open plaza
Loggias filter light
Student visitors
Custom-designed PVCs
540-kilowatt solar
3,000 solar panels
Conference/lab space
Desert landscape
Aerial rendering
Dual-glazed windows
Solar energy display
Sustainable details
Psychometric diagram
Site context
Site plan
Lighting section
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