Built on land owned by MWD, the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology houses bones and artifacts resulting from the excavation done to create DVL, while Center for Water Education reflects the stewardship of the District through interactive exhibits that tell the story of water.  To further connect the notions of water and life, and to educate the public, the buildings tell the same story as the exhibits inside.  Thus, the building program is a “living” example of sustainability and conservation.  Designed to achieve LEED Platinum rating, the building is awaiting certification.

The $36.8-million, 70,000-square-foot project comprises two museums, laboratories, classrooms, administrative offices, support facilities, gift shop, café, and interpretive/educational landscape on the 23-acre campus.  The architecture for the museums is derived from the history of MWD’s monumental architecture, such as Gordon Kaufman’s pump buildings at Lake Havasu.  A series of five slender steel towers blazes across each structure’s façade, providing an eloquent contrast against the azure desert skyline.  The monoliths are clad in crenellated steel, and evoke association with the minimalist sculpture of Donald Judd.  These primal forms have a timeless quality sitting in the landscape, and recall the turbines in a row or the grills that the water goes through in its processing.  The architecture and the landscape were conceived from the beginning as one.  This arid campus has been designed as an environmental learning experience. 

Translucent banners hang across 10,000 square feet of east-facing glass.  Printed with pixilated images, the banners not only identify the museums (water and bones), but also mitigate the strong desert sun.  Latticed loggias on the plaza sides of the buildings give a dramatic processional feeling through filtered light.  The layering of perforated steel slats and custom-made solar tiles adds depth and movement to the loggias.

Green design elements cast the complex’s energy standards above the required minimum of California Title 24 Energy Conformance.  The buildings’ rooftop photovoltaic installation—-one of the world’s largest of its kind with a 540-kilowatt solar-power system of 3,000 solar panels-—generates energy for 68 percent of the museum space, requires minimal maintenance, lowers the toxic outpour of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and creates a projected net savings of about $13 million during its lifespan.  An educational solar power display encourages visitors to learn about the solar power system.

A network of electronic sensing devices and timers optimize daylight harvesting for the interiors.  Waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets, drought-tolerant landscaping, and state-of-the-art irrigation drip systems using reclaimed water are systems designed to conserve the precious resource of water.