A Working Model of Sustainable Design: Gwinnett County Educational Center

A Working Model of Sustainable Design Gwinnett County Educational Center
When Gwinnett County, Georgia, sought an architecture firm to design its first "green" building - an educational center envisioned to be a working model of ecologically sustainable design - it launched a nationwide search.

In the end, the County selected Lord, Aeck & Sargent, a firm whose Atlanta office is less than 40 miles away.

The end result of the search - the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center (GEHC) - opened last year.

It was developed through a collaboration of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, the Gwinnett County Public School System, the University of Georgia (UGA) and the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center Foundation.

The GEHC teaches about the importance of water, and its programs and interactive exhibits - designed for K-12 and adult audiences - explore the impact that water has had on our history and everyday lives as well as the water management challenges we face in the future.

"It's been an outstanding experience for the Lord, Aeck & Sargent team to have been involved with a government building that embodies the principles of water conservation and education not just through its programs, but through its very design," said John Starr, AIA and Lord, Aeck & Sargent project principal in charge.