Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center

Soldotna
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo © Ken Graham
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
© Ken Graham
Architects
Cushing Terrell
Location
Soldotna
Year
2015
Cushing Terrell Services
Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, Structural Engineering
Agency Served
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

Sited partially-sunken into the landscape, this 8,000 sq. ft. visitor center welcomes both visitors and locals, and its design facilitates a transition from our technology-driven world into the natural environment of the refuge.

The new visitor center provides programming year-round and includes a multipurpose room, exhibit hall, bookstore, accessible restrooms, and lobby/seating areas, along with an outdoor exhibit within the surrounding forested habitat. Incorporating many environmentally-conscious features, the building has a sod roof, PV solar panels, in-floor radiant heating, LED lighting, a natural ventilation system, and a soapstone masonry heater. The $6.1 million project used a design/build delivery method and earned LEED Silver certification.

While the majority of the building is intended to be fairly subdued in its design and integrated into the landscape, the exhibit area, by contrast, floats defiantly above the contours and extends outward into the tree canopy, immersing users into the surrounding forested habitat.

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