ReCreation Center

Design problem

2026 Indiana High School Architectural Design Competition: "Second Nature"

Students were challenged to design an experience center within an 88-acre ecological reserve for a de-extincted species of their choice. The building must provide two distinct habitat viewing experiences, educate visitors about the animal's history and extinction, and support veterinary and research functions.

Required spaces include a lobby and ticketing area, a 3,000-square-foot exhibit hall with eight display zones, a media room and theater, two habitat experience zones, a veterinary suite with holding/recovery and examination rooms, a birthing room, an 800-square-foot research lab, and four private offices.

The central design challenge is spatial choreography. It focuses on how the building sequences a visitor's emotional and educational journey from arrival through the grand finale of experiencing a living, once-lost species.

View the design brief

Student solution

ReCreation Center embraces organic design that responds to its dramatic site,  balancing the calm of the water's edge against the severity of jagged cliffs. Natural materials and seamless indoor-outdoor connections ground the design in its landscape. The center is conceived as both a place to explore and a place to linger, with viewing points into the lab and vet areas making the building interactive while preserving necessary privacy and security. Organic architecture merges with biophilic elements, allowing the building to feel alive and connected to its surroundings. Interior viewing windows and audible connections across the facility create a continuous sense of discovery. Climate-controlled habitats, observation decks, and research wings serve both casual visitors and serious researchers. The overall experience evokes wonder and connection to the natural world, a building that enhances rather than competes with the extraordinary experience of encountering extinct species.