The Kreher Preserve & Nature Center Environmental Education Building

It’s hard to imagine a more stimulating learning environment for children than the Environmental Education Building, tucked into the forest at the Auburn University’s 120-acre Kreher Preserve & Nature Center. Architects designed the building, described as a “little jewel box,” to promote wonder and exploration of the natural world while allowing its young visitors to experience the warmth and beauty of a wood-framed building. Home to Kreher’s Woodland Wonders Nature Preschool, the Center also provides educational programs and field experiences for local school-aged children.

Imagined as an extension of the network of trails running throughout the Preserve, the Environmental Education Building is organized along a central “learning trail” spine. The structure’s spatial arrangement embraces the landscape, and wood’s natural materiality and accessibility within the building itself invite student engagement and encourage connection with the trees outside.

Light-filled classroom spaces in the 4,989-square-foot building are mixed with an administrative area and a series of open and covered porches that allow activities to spill out into the surrounding forest. The Type V-B structure was framed using southern yellow pine glulam beams and columns, CLT roof panels and shear walls, and dimension lumber. The building also features wood windows, doors, flooring, paneling, exterior siding, and trim.

The butterfly roof structures provide shade while also inviting nature inside, and clerestory windows provide ample views and allow daylight and natural ventilation to flood the interior—important for Alabama’s humid climate. The dramatic roof shape and cantilevered mass timber panels also demonstrate the two-way spanning capabilities of CLT.