Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center receives another award

Hidden in the middle of the city, the 320-acre wetland nature park has claimed another award. This time, the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, a collaboration between the city of Bellevue and Pacific Science Center, has received the American Institute of Architects prestigious Honor Award for Washington Architecture.

According to the American Institute of Architects, the award is given to projects which exemplify the agility, inventiveness and foresight that architects bring to their work and by “going above and beyond to improve the built environment.” Of 175 submittals to the 2009 AIA Seattle Honor Awards, the Environmental Education Center was one of four Northwest projects given the award.

“These projects truly epitomize not only the best of what is possible here in Washington, but also what our colleagues are trying to achieve across the country,” said event moderator Elizabeth K. Meyer, Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (FASLA), University of Virginia. “We found the work inspiring and thought-provoking.”

The Environmental Education Center, at 1625 118th Ave. SE, is a gateway to the Mercer Slough Nature Park, a wetland in the heart of urban Bellevue. Home to hundreds of diverse plants and animals that depend on the wetlands ecosystem for survival, the slough is considered ideal for environmental study.

The new Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center provides opportunities for hands-on environmental education in the 320-acre Mercer Slough Nature Park. Phase 1 was completed in October 2008, and features classrooms, a visitor center, a community building and a “tree house,” all sustainably built utilizing the LEED certification system.

The American Institute of Architects praised that the well-crafted, LEED Gold certified public project stood out because of the deep connection to its environment, distinguished by the ecological systems operating across building and landscape. The jurors of the awarding process described the project as a “vivid learning laboratory.”

Pacific Science Center and the city of Bellevue have offered classes at Mercer Slough for the past 15 years. However, the original education center was the Sullivan House, a retrofitted Parks property that could only accommodate 8,000 students each year. Once all phases of the new expansion are complete, the center will be able to welcome as many as 40,000 school children, teachers and families each year.

The new Education Center includes the Sullivan House (remodeled), a new classroom, wet lab, community building and a visitor center. A planned second phase of expansion will add an additional classroom and construction is currently underway on a second wet lab, thanks to a gift from the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. The gift is part of the Association’s centennial celebration.

With its special features, including slough overlooks, the wet lab and a tree house, the new facility will give visitors a hands-on wetlands experience. A network of boardwalks enables visitors to see the slough without disturbing it.

The collaborative project serves all ages. Pacific Science Center provides science-based education programs targeted to youth and families to inspire lifelong awareness, understanding and appreciation for stewardship of the natural world. With the same focus, the city provides environmental interpretive programs for adults and families. The city also maintains the property.

The center, designed by Jones & Jones, Architects and Landscape Architects, has already earned a King County “Excellence in Building Green Award.” Environmentally friendly construction materials and methods were used throughout the project. The “green” building elements include roofs that collect rainwater into a gentle runoff to nurture native plants, and it’s not just the buildings themselves that are “green.”

Even the processes used to construct the buildings were also in tune with the city’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative and the environmental mission of Pacific Science Center. The drills used for construction were environmentally friendly, running on corn oil to eliminate the threat of toxic seepage.