Ozarks Education Center Arkansas, Bull Shoals Field Station USA building, OEC Missouri State University architecture photos

Ozarks Education Center in Arkansas

November 27, 2023

Architects: BNIM

Location: OEC, Bull Shoals Field Station (BSFS) for Missouri State University, Cedarcreek, Arkansas, United States of America

Ozarks Education Center Arkansas USA

Photos by Kelly Callewaert

Ozarks Education Center, AR

The Bull Shoals Field Station is an existing research location for Missouri State University (MSU) students located within the Ozarks on the shores of Bull Shoals Lake and within the Drury-Mincy conservation area. To address the increasing demand for educational opportunities within the college and other organizations at the Bull Shoals Field Station, the Missouri State University Ozarks Education Center (OEC) provides a new location for education and research by MSU faculty and students, other universities, visiting high school students, and non-profit organizations.

Ozarks Education Center Arkansas USA

Immersed in the unique landscape of the Ozark Mountains, the MSU Ozarks Education Center is designed to serve as a gateway for learning and observation of the surrounding state conservation areas and ecological resources. The community facility, at 4,310 sf, provides one central location to accommodate larger groups of students and visitors with sleeping and bathing quarters, a dining center, residential kitchen, classroom space, and room for programs.

Education Center Ozarks Arkansas

The facility is divided up into community space and residential space by way of an entry dogtrot, which serves as a focal point for visitors to the MSU Ozarks Education Center. Large barn doors framing views from the east and west and a roof oculus naturally orient visitors to time of day and create a connection to sky and earth.

Education Center Ozarks Arkansas USA

The space serves as a threshold for visitors to begin exploration of the greater 1,200-acre site and a gathering place to reconvene at the end of a day. The space is shaded and cooled passively through the design’s geometry which increases wind speeds, inherent in the vernacular dogtrot approach. The barn doors of the dogtrot can be opened and closed down to protect from harsh weather conditions.

Ozarks Education Center Arkansas USA

Small and large groups of up to 60 people can be accommodated in the community space housed in the main building. Individual cabins and sleeping quarters in the main building can accommodate 19 overnight guests at a time.

Education Center Ozarks Arkansas USA

Education Center Ozarks Arkansas USA

Cabins are located down in the topography to immerse the guests in the surrounding environment and to provide a full sensory experience through large apertures of glass that open towards the forest.

Education Center Ozarks USA

The cabins employ passive cooling strategies with low operable windows on the west and high clerestory operable windows on the east that encourage natural cooling via wind.

Education Center Ozarks USA

Sustainable design was a key part of the design dialog for the MSU Ozarks Education Center. The building is designed to be a light touch both physically and sustainably on the natural environment, considering sustainable strategies in the areas of site, building, systems, and materials.

Education Center Ozarks USA

Sustainable features include operable windows for shading, solar heat gain, glare control, passive cooling, and cross ventilation; a series of bioswales and native plantings to assist with storm water management; rain chains for the opportunity to implement rainwater capture and reuse; LED systems and daylight and motion sensors for energy efficient lighting; and a simple and natural palette of materials selected for their low environmental impact and vetted for VOC emissions, recycling program, and low embodied carbon.

Education Center Ozarks 
 Arkansas

Ozarks Education Center, Arkansas – Building Information

Architect: BNIM – https://www.bnim.com/

Structural: Walter P Moore
Contractor: Branco Enterprises, Inc.
MEP: Lankford Fendler & Associates

Completion date: 2020
Building levels: 1

Education Center Ozarks 
 Arkansas

Photographer: Kelly Callewaert

Ozarks Education Center, Arkansas images / information received 271123 from BNIM

Location: OEC, Bull Shoals Field Station, Cedarcreek, Arkansas, United States of America

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