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The Museum of Northern Arizona Easton Collection Center
Background
The Easton Collection Center was built to house MNA’s extensive anthropological, biological, and fine arts collection. The design for the building committed to the highest standards, with state-of-the-art climate, fire, security, and infestation controls. MNA anticipates that it will receive the highest LEED rating of Platinum.
Design Approach & Features
The building has a living roof with 12,500 ft2 of plantable space that features native wildflowers and grasses. Harvested rainwater is stored in large, ground-plane planters that also contain native grasses and perennials.
The landscape draws visitors in, as if through a canyon, by the continuity of visual elements — native plants, attractive boulders, sculpted stone walls and columns, and borrowed views. Working with the building’s architect, Schaafsma Design developed a landscape that allows these elements to flow with the building. A large walkway of Eco-Stone® pervious pavers sweeps around the east facade of the building and connects the center to the rest of the campus. We also incorporated a beautiful collection of petrified logs into the landscape. These large stones had been donated to MNA in the 1960s and long forgotten in an adjacent field. Today, they stand as great accents. Dry-laid malpais stone-seat walls form the gateway to the building, pulling out in a serpentine form. Two malpais columns frame the paver sidewalk that links the campus to the project, and a similar stone column was constructed to house the irrigation controller.
All of the areas disturbed by the construction activity were seeded with native grass and wildflowers with a top dressing of organic ground cover, which in time will grow into an attractive meadow.
Awards
The design team and KCS won an award called “The Best of the Best in Green Buildings in 2009” from Southwest Contractors and McGraw Hill Construction.
Schaafsma Design received a “Certificate of Admiration” for the “Best Regional and Cultural Connections to Site for 2009” in the Flagstaff Garden Competition from the Arizona Native Plant Society and The Flagstaff Xeriscape Council.
Project Team
Robert Breunig, Ph.D. — MNA, Director
James A. Roberts — Robert/Jones Associates, Architect
Pieter Schaafsma, ASLA — Schaafsma Design, Landscape Design/Build
Paul Kephardt, Raphael Garcia — Rana Creeek, Living Roof
Tim Kinney, KCS — General Contactor
Construction Photos
