IslandWood

Hands-on Sustainable Learning

Bainbridge Island, WA

Serving Kids and Site

From the first day of design, this simple premise guided a highly integrated design process to create a magical experience for students, and a deep green project to serve as an international model for sustainable development. Buildings are oriented along solar meadows to allow for passive and active solar from the south, and immersive views into the forest on the north.

Inspiring Students of All Ages

Committed to providing a residential experience for inner city youth, IslandWood serves over 4,000 4th-6th grade students annually. The campus also houses a University of Washington accredited residential graduate program, and leadership retreats for non-profit and corporate groups.

A Green Pioneer

As one of the first LEED Gold certified projects in the world, IslandWood serves as an inspiration for designers, developers, and educators. Key features include constructed wetlands, composting toilets, a Living Machine, and site-harvested lumber in all buildings.

Client

IslandWood

Overview

Residential environmental education center providing visitors with a deeper understanding of the natural environment through hands-on learning and outdoor field experience

Program

Welcome Center (interpretive center, gathering hall, administration), Learning Studios, Dining Hall, Art Studio, four residential lodges, graduate student cabins, Living Machine greenhouse, and a variety of site structures including treehouse, bird blind, and suspension bridge

Size

70,600 sf; 255 acres

Sustainable Metrics

LEED Gold, Certified

Completion Date

2002

Services

Architecture, Interior Design

Awards

IIDA / Metropolis, Smart Environments Award, 2007

AIA Committee on Architecture for Education Design Awards, Merit Award, 2005

IIDA Washington State Chapter INawards, Best of Competition, 2003

DesignShare Awards, Honor Award, Alternative Schools, 2003

Associated Builders & Contractors of Western Washington, Eagle of Excellence Award and Specialty Construction Award of Excellence, 2003

Seattle AIA, Exhibition, Greenworld - What Makes It Green, 2002

International Design Resource Awards Competition, First Place, Professionals, Design with Memory, 2002

AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Award, 2002

Construction Specifications Institute Puget Sound Chapter, Craftsmanship Award, 2001

AIA Portland Chapter Design Awards, Cascadia Region, Ten Shades of Green, Design Awards, 2001

The daylit Welcome Center houses administrative offices with reception lobby, interpretive exhibits and an auditorium space.

Exterior classrooms like the Friendship Circle provide unique environments for learning.

The Living Machine serves as a biological wastewater treatment plant and an interactive classroom for biology and water quality issues.

A greenhouse and exterior garden allow for the growth of native plantings for replacement of invasive species.

The tree house is Inspired by the shapes of tree burls, beehives and tent caterpillars, and is constructed of salvaged Douglas fir and cedar shakes.

Each lab classroom features its own unique combination of sustainable materials including recycled yogurt container countertops, bamboo flooring, and oriented strandboard.

The high pitched roof and walls of the tree house give the interior a soaring ceiling that provides a strong tactile connection to the verticality and mass of the tree.

The tree house provides an evocative, non-traditional learning environment for study groups with naturalist guides and chaperones.

Three species of local endangered salmon and trout are soldered to the bottom of this copper sink to help students understand that there are environmental implications to many of their everyday actions.

Hands-on Sustainable Learning

IslandWood