"...a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stabiltity, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise...
- Aldo Leopold
Selected Additional Projects
Media Recognition
Speaking Engagements
Visitor Centers & Interpretive Centers
Denali Science & Learning Center
Winter Visitor Center/Learning Center/Administration, Dining Hall, Guest Lodging
Denali National Park & Preserve
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Completed 2005
Denali National Park & Preserve
Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska
Entrance Area Visitor Experience Study & Conceptual Design
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
Headquarters / Visitor Contact Facility
St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin
Site Selection, Building Design
Completed 2006
Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center
Itasca State Park, Minnesota
Building Design
Completed 2005
Mississippi River National Center
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
St. Paul, Minnesota
Value Analysis
Marine Center
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Sustainable Design Consultant
Homer Alaska
Under Construction
Richardson Nature Center
Addition & Remodeling
Bloomington, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $1.6 Million
Completed 2001
Kroening Interpretive Center
North Mississippi Regional Park
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $1.35 Million
Completed 2002
North Mississippi Regional Park
Picnic Shelter & Toilet Building
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $2.0 Million
Completed 2001
Thompson Park Center
Thompson County Park
Dakota County Parks Department
West Saint Paul, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Building Design
Completed 2002
Lebanon Hills Regional Park Visitor Center & Trailhead
Dakota County Parks Department
Eagan, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $1.9 Million
Completed 2003
International Wolf Center
Ely, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Master Planning, Various Project Designs
Residential Environmental Learning Centers
Denali Science & Learning Center
Winter Visitor Center / Learning Center / Administration, Dinning Hall, Guest Lodging
Denali National Park & Preserve
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Completed 2005
Denali Foundation
Denali National Park & Preserve
Master Planning
Midwest Center for Wind Energy
Shaokatan Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota
Architectural Programming
Construction Cost: $2.0 Million
Completed 2000
Prairie Wetlands Learning Center
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $2.4 Million
Completed 1998
Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center
Willmar, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Predesign, Building Design
Construction Cost: $1.35 Million (Phase One) $4.0 Million (Phase Two)
Phase One Completed 1998
Agassiz Environmental Learning Center
Fertile, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Predesign, Building Design
Construction Cost: $4.4 Million
(Construction Pending Funding)
Audubon Center of the North Woods
Dining / Administration, Dormitory
Sandstone, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $1.9 Million
Completed 1998
Audubon Center of the North Woods
Lowry Lodge Remodeling
Sandstone, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $50,000
Completed 1997
Long Lake Conservation Center
Dining Hall and Dormitory
Palisade, Minnesota
Master Planning, Architectural Programming, Building Design
Construction Cost: $3.3 Million
Completed 1999
Wilder Forest
Marine on St. Croix
Architectural Programming, Master Planning
(Construction Pending Funding)
Presbyterian Clearwater Forest
Youth & Family Lodge / Residential Environmental Learning Center, Administration, Dining Hall
Deerwood, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Master Planning, Conceptual Building Design
(Construction Pending Funding)
Other
The GREEN Institute
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Architectural Programming, Master Planning
Three Rivers Park District
Public Safety Department South Office
Bryant Lake Regional Park, Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Architectural Design
Construction Cost: $135,000
Completed 2000
Sletten Residence
Dresser, Wisconsin
Architectural and Interior Design
Completed 2005
Television
The Environmental Journal
Fargo News
KARE 11
Books
Interpretive Centers: The History, Design, and Development of Nature and Visitor Centers. Interpreter's Handbook Series. Gross, Michael and Ron Zimmerman. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Foundation Press. 2001.
Magazines
"Great Expectations: Minnesota Center Hopes to Turn Green into Gold" O'Connor, Marge. Eco-Structure, May/June 2004.
Newspapers
"Architects Experience Prairie by Camping" Lawlor, Maria. The Daily Journal, Fergus Falls, 4 May 1996.
"In the Prairie, Potholes Are Good" Pfister, Darlene. Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, 8 August 1998. B1, B4
"New Parks Center Goes Green" Divine, Mary. St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, 20 February 2004.
"Site Seeing in the Great Outdoors" Mack, Linda. Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, 5 August 2001. F16.
"Lebanon Hills Adds Element For the Wise-Overlooking Schulze Lake: A New 6,000-Square-Foot Center Aims to Educate Visitors While Providing Warm Welcome to a Popular Dakota County Park" Sherman, Amy. St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, 01 October 2003.
Newsletters
"Minnesota Parks Project is a Truly Green Building: Lebanon Hills Visitor Center Opens With Extensive Use of FSC Materials" Forest Stewardship Council, U.S. News & Views, November 2003, Volume 3, No. 15.
November 2004
National Interpreter's Workshop
National Association for Interpretation
Grand Rapids, MI
A Case Study in Sustainable Design & Interpretiation
5 May 2004
International Facility Management Association
Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter Meeting
Visitor Center
Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Case Study Vistior Center & Trailhead
16 June 2004
Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting
FOS/MIS
MN DNR
Visitor Center
Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Case Study Visi
01 May 2004
Living Green Expo
State Fairgrounds
St. Paul, MN
Green Roofs & Clean Lakes
23 April 2004
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities/City of Minneapolis
Local Market Developing Workshop
University of Minnesota CALA
Case Study
Visitor Center & Trailhead
Lebanon Hills Regional Park
19 March 2004
Permaculture Workshop
Minneapolis, MN
23 October 2003
Wood For Building Green Workshop
Certified Wood & Papre Association
Double Tree Hotel
Case Study
Visitor Center & Trailhead
Lebanon Hills Regional Park
06 – 10 November 2001
National Interpreter's Workshop
National Association for Interpretation
Des Moines, Iowa
Architectural Design and Planning for Environmental Education and Interpretation
1996
National Interpreter's Workshop
National Association for Interpretation
Billings, MT
Co-Presenter with Laurence Page
Mission-Responsive Site and Building Design
The Environmental Education Studio
Design Philosophy
The Environmental Education Studio of Partners & Sirny is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and specializes in designing ecologically sustainable environments for delivering environmental education and interpretation.We approach each project with a desire to create simple and elegant solutions reflecting the unique sense of place in which the project is located, responding to the mission of the organization served, and incorporating and exhibiting ecologically sustainable design principles.We believe we are unique in our ability to apply our values to the client's mission through an approach that is mission-based, site specific, operations specific, team-oriented, and ecologically sustainable. Our design team integrates architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and engineering to provide a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach.