Adjacent to a newly developed urban park, the North Ridge Park Pavilion accommodates the City’s recreation programs and is available for private meetings and receptions.  The pavilion also serves as a welcoming landmark for the city’s western gateway.

The guiding vision for the project transcends the typical utilitarian nature of a park shelter to serve as a model of sustainable design in the community.  Environmental elements incorporated into the design include Iowa’s first ‘green roof’, locally quarried limestone, recycled timbers, and passive solar techniques.  Through informative signage, the building serves as an educational tool to the concepts of sustainable design. 

As a result of the project’s environmentally responsive nature, it was partially funded through a variety of state and federal grants as well as local TIF funds.

Indigenous limestone was used as the primary building material for its warmth and texture and becomes the focus for both the exterior and interior.  By its nature the product does not require large amounts of energy to bring it from its raw state to installation and the locale of the quarry provided additional energy savings.

The result is an elegantly simple structure that promotes the concepts of sustainable design in the community.