Platinum Exhibit

New Museum in Flagstaff Reaching for Highest LEED Levels

By Michele Van Haecke

Sensitivity is the touchstone for a new Museum of Northern Arizona campus anchor under construction in Flagstaff. Response to environment, climate and unusual esoteric elements drawn from native cultures drove design of the new $5.2 million Easton Collections Center, which will house the museum's collection of anthropological, geological, biological and fine art pieces.

The $5.2 Easton Collections Center will aim for LEED platinum in a design that combines unique aspects of the region’s culture, climate and environment. Image courtesy Roberts Jones Associates

Expected to achieve LEED platinum certification, the 17,280-sq-ft structure was designed to serve the museum's multi-faceted mission by incorporating research and connections to Colorado Plateau cultures and environment, says architect James Roberts, principal with Roberts Jones Associates, located in Phoenix. Its high-level LEED achievement is incidental to its practical goals, he says.

Building mass, solar orientation and finishes were chosen to provide precise environmental controls around the collection. The design incorporates concrete-filled masonry, extensive insulation, low-flow plumbing fixtures, in-floor radiant heating and a 23,000 annual kwh solar array. Finishes include humidity-foiling hydraulic lime plaster, colored concrete, recycled Douglas fir, native stone and Cor-Ten weathering steel. A roof planted with native grassland species will help stabilize environments while doubling as a living laboratory. Landscaping will also be indigenous.

Roberts worked with museum staff, National Park Service consultants and a local American Indian Advisory Committee to develop the design's sustainable and symbolic components. A controllable natural daylighting system will use movable skylights and a solar aperture in the eastern elevation to direct sunlight. Each solstice, a sunbeam will illuminate specific collection pieces and each equinox the entry rotunda's center. Circular forms and orientation to the San Francisco Peaks also establish relationships to nature and local culture.

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"This has been a very challenging but very interesting design process," Roberts says. "All of this important input combined with the goal of achieving the highest rating of sustainable design has led to a continuous and very enlightening design challenge."

Construction calls for local material sources and diverting waste from landfills when possible, Roberts adds. Flagstaff-based general contractor Kinney Construction Services began construction in February and is expected to complete work within a year.

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