All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory Scientists Get New, Sustainable Building

published Nov 29, 2007

For nearly a decade, scientists in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were working in less than optimum conditions on the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI), a project that is documenting the 800-square-mile Park's estimated 100,000 species of living organisms.

Now these park scientists have moved their work to a new 15,000-square-foot, site-sensitive, sustainable building that will facilitate their research efforts.

Designed by the architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent, the new Twin Creeks Science and Education Center will help scientists gain the knowledge that is essential for the effective protection and preservation of the Park's ecosystem.

Targeting LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the $4.4 million Twin Creeks facility, which will become the National Park Service's (NPS) first LEED building in the southeastern United States, responds to a variety of challenges and constraints placed on the architects.