Brock Environmental Center
Architect: SmithGroupJJR
Owner: Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Project site: Greenfield
Building program type(s): Education–General, Office–10,000 sq ft, Public Assembly–General
2017 COTE Top Ten Plus honoree
The Brock Environmental Center is a hub for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Hampton Roads office, supporting their education, advocacy and restoration initiatives. The Center is designed to express CBF’s mission of collaboration to protect one of the nation’s most valuable and threatened natural resources—the Chesapeake Bay. CBF aspired to manifest true sustainability, creating a landmark that transcends notions of “doing less harm” towards a reality where architecture can create a positive, regenerative impact on both the environment and society. The Center surpasses LEED achieving zero-net-CO₂ emissions, zero waste, and Living Building Challenge certification from the International Living Future Institute.
View of the Brock Center from the marshes and Bay to the South. Students and residents can access the waterways to develop a deeper understanding of the Bay's threatened ecosystems. Image credit: Prakash Patel Photography
The Brock Environmental Center serves as the hub for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Hampton Road office, supporting their education, advocacy and restoration initiatives. The Center provides offices for CBF and partner groups, meeting rooms, and an 80-seat conference room designed to express CBF’s mission of collaboration to protect one of the nation’s most valuable and threatened natural resources–the Chesapeake Bay. CBF aspired to manifest true sustainability, creating a landmark that transcends notions of “doing less harm” towards a reality where architecture can create a positive, regenerative impact on both the environment and society.
Completion of the Center concluded a successful community effort to save Virginia Beach’s 118-acre Pleasure House Point tract from over-development. A community partnership with CBF, the City of Virginia Beach (CVB), and the Trust for Public Land purchased the land, preserving it for open space and environmental education. Locating the Center on an ecologically-sensitive site allowed CBF to implement its entire mission in one location, but necessitated appropriate environmental goals: to protect, preserve, and celebrate this setting, creating a design of its place, while simultaneously showcasing technologies that contribute to net-zero energy, water, and waste.
The design expresses these goals. The curved building form responds to the nearby shoreline, maximizes daylight, and embraces passive solar principles. Prominent, curving roofs recall forms of the site’s wind-swept oaks, the wings of a gull, and the protective shell of an oyster; while also embodying rainwater collection. The material palette references the site’s colors and textures– zinc shingles recall fish scales, cypress cladding reinforces the site’s colors and horizontality, and metals mimic the glistening Bay. Outdoor spaces allow for a reduction in built area, while connecting occupants to the site. A south-facing porch doubles as outdoor workspace. A prominent, outdoor classroom hosts thousands of students each year.
