Valle de Oro Outdoor Classroom
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge | Albuquerque, NM
Project Description
A new outdoor classroom situated on the western boundary of the 570-acre refuge encourages visitor engagement, promotes sustainability, and provides a community gathering place.
Design Team
Formative Architecture
Status
In progress
As New Mexico’s newest wildlife refuge, Valle de Oro continues to develop its land with an Outdoor Classroom to serve the community and its growing visitation.
When envisioning the design for the new outdoor classroom, three goals served as our guiding forces: encourage visitor engagement, promote environmental sustainability, and provide a community gathering place.
The resulting design centralizes an earthen berm that wraps the outdoor classroom floor, providing visitors a naturalized amphitheater seating experience amongst a planted environment.
The audience’s views are focused towards the classroom and out to the new play field and bosque beyond.
A new steel sculptural roof is comprised of two equilateral triangles connected along a common spine and shading the outdoor classroom.
The folded roof plates lift upwards from the spine to direct roof-collected stormwater into a splash pool below that distributes to a network of pollinator gardens.
Pollinator gardens encircle the site to provide a natural fragrant aroma.
Meanwhile, behind the outdoor classroom berm is buried vault toilet restrooms with rusted z-piling holding back the berm while forming the durable interior walls of the restrooms.
The balance of the interior partitions are clad with corrugated steel box rib panels rusted to match the visitor center cladding.
Likewise, the entrance facade is clad with wood siding to tell the story of beetle pine and provide a welcoming and warm finish, while match the finishes of the nearby Visitor Center.
Situated at Valle de Oro’s western boundary, the outdoor classroom connects the national wildlife refuge to the adjacent Rio Grande Bosque’s walking, biking, and horse riding trails.
The adjacency provides an opportunity for visitors to explore the bosque environment with its mature cottonwood trees, while also inviting cyclists and walkers in.
A comprehensive site signage and wayfinding package provides environmental education and visitor orientation throughout the outdoor classroom site and refuge lands beyond.
A sweeping west to east pathway connecting the bosque and Valle de Oro refuge is framed with two fish sculptures designed and constructed by local non-profit ALMA, Apprenticeships for Leaders in Mosaic Arts. Local artist Deborah Jojola from the Isleta Pueblo also designed a sculpture oasis.
Alcoves along the trail connect visitors to the weather data gathering station, picnic niches, horse hitching, refuge signage, and parking areas beyond the outdoor classroom.
New cottonwood trees and bands of willow thickets are planted to protect the play field and picnic areas from sun and wind and provide screening.
The outdoor classroom will open near the new, award-winning Valle de Oro Visitor Center to further activate the national wildlife refuge.
Services Provided
Architecture
Programming
Community Outreach
Signage/Wayfinding Design
Furniture Selection & Design
Environmentally Conscious Design
Renderings
Formative Architecture
Design Team
Formative Architecture
QA Engineering
RME ABQ Structural Engineers
Artist Collaborations
Deborah Jojola, sculpture island
ALMA, Apprenticeships for Leaders in Mosaic Arts, fish entrance sculptures
Year
In progress
Contract Value
$800K