Estuarine Habitats and Coastal Fisheries Research Center

The Estuarine Habitat & Coastal Fisheries Center was designed as part of a joint federal/university research campus dedicated to the study of coastal marine life and habitats.

LOCATION

LAFFAYETTE, LA

SIZE

69,000 SF

YEAR OF COMPLETION

1998

SERVICES

ARCHITECTURE

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT

TIMOTHY HURSLEY

AWARDS

2002 AIA NATIONAL HONOR AWARD 2000 AIA GULF STATES HONOR CITATION 1998 AIA LOUISIANA HONOR AWARD 1998 AIA NEW ORLEANS HONOR AWARD

Opened in July 1998, this national award-winning project was a collaboration with Joint Venture partner Guidry Beazley Osteen Architects at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The physical program for this 69,000-square-foot facility includes laboratories, a conference center, an interpretive gallery and offices for several federal agencies. The social program, however, is one of making connections; internally between the Center’s various users and externally with the public and the adjacent University.

The building program is organized into two distinct wings, derived from a careful analysis of user needs and cost and energy efficiencies.
The project overlooks a man-made wetlands habitat operating in tandem with the structure’s stormwater and wastewater facilities.

In addition to their functional capacity, the wetlands simultaneously serve a symbolic role, signaling to the public the critical research aims of the facility. The project was completed before the adoption of LEED but recent post-occupancy monitoring of energy consumption has yielded a measured EUI of 185kBtu/sf/ yr (50% below benchmark), placing the project significantly below the 2030 Commitment at the time it was designed and constructed.