More than 8 million people visit Niagara Falls State Park in New York annually. The park, designed by Frederick Law Omsted, is the oldest state park in the U.S. And yesterday, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation broke ground on a $46 million 28,948-sf Welcome Center for Niagara Falls State Park, which is scheduled for completion in Spring 2023.
“Niagara Falls is a wonder of the world unique to Western New York and its awe-inspiring beauty has been preserved with Niagara Falls State Park,” said New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul, in her Oct. 15 announcement about the Center.
The new building will replace a 35-year-old, much smaller existing facility. The Welcome Center, nestled into a sloped site that offers views to the head of the falls, will include visitor orientation, lobby, interactive exhibits, gift shop, dining, and outdoor terraces and overlook. The Center will comprise new ticketing and information desks, concession spaces, an interpretive museum space, and restrooms.
SUSTAINABILITY IS INTEGRAL TO THE DESIGN
The Center’s glass façade will connect visitors to the falls. And the building’s natural materials—limestone sourced from the Niagara escarpment, wood ceilings, and green roof elements—reflect the building’s surroundings and industrial history. (The park was established in 1885.)
Most of the new building’s footprint will be on the same location as the existing building, to minimize the environmental impact of the site. Indeed, sustainability played an integral role in GWWO Architects’ design of the Welcome Center. The building’s topography reduces heating and cooling demands; low-flow plumbing fixtures reduce water usage; the Niagara River will provide water to irrigate the Welcome Center’s planting, supplemented by water-capturing cisterns.
The building will include roof-mounted solar panels, LED light fixtures, highly insulated walls and roofing, and energy efficient glazing. Its systems are all-electric to reduce carbon emissions in line with the state’s climate goals.
CULMINATION OF MULTI-YEAR REVITALIZATION
GWWO specializes in the design of these kinds of buildings. One of its recent projects was the new Summit Visitors Center for Pike’s Peak in Colorado. Alan Reed, GWWO’s Design Principal, hopes the Niagara Falls State Park project will create “an immersive architectural and educational experience.” GWWO worked with Haley Sharpe Design (the project’s interpretive designers), as well as local historians, residents, and indigenous communities to bring forth an experience that gives visitors a better understanding of the past, present, and future.
Other Building Team members on this project include Buffalo-based RP Oak Hill Building Company (GC) and The LiRo Group (CM and owner’s rep). The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation—named after the founding owner of the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise—contributed an $8 million grant toward the funding of the Welcome Center’s construction, which represents the completion of the $150 million Niagara Falls State Park landscape revitalization that began in 2011.
Related Stories
| Nov 12, 2014
Chesapeake Bay Foundation completes uber-green Brock Environmental Center, targets Living Building certification
More than a decade after opening its groundbreaking Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the group is back at it with a structure designed to be net-zero water, net-zero energy, and net-zero waste.
| Nov 12, 2014
Designs by three finalists for new Beethoven concert hall unveiled
David Chipperfield and Valentiny are among the finalists for a new concert hall being built to commemorate Beethoven’s 250th birthday in his hometown of Bonn, Germany.
| Nov 7, 2014
NORD Architects releases renderings for Marine Education Center in Sweden
The education center will be set in a landscape that includes small ponds and plantings intended to mimic an assortment of marine ecologies and create “an engaging learning landscape” for visitors to experience nature hands-on.
| Oct 20, 2014
UK's best new building: Everyman Theatre wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2014
The new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins has won the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 for the best building of the year. Now in its 19th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Sponsored | | Oct 19, 2014
The Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral dazzles visitors
With a mission to provide the experience of a lifetime, the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Fla., is designed to inspire, as visitors learn about the history and nature of the port and beyond. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 19, 2014
White House Visitor Center reopens in Washington, D.C.
Designed by SmithGroupJJR and Gallagher & Associates, renovated center shows public its unique role as office, stage, museum, park, and home.
| Oct 17, 2014
OMA, OLIN design unanimously chosen for D.C. elevated park
In the design, the ends of the bridge are pulled upward to form an "X" shape. It allows ample room for add-ons such as a cafe and performance space, in addition to open space for plazas, lawns, and urban agriculture plots.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 16, 2014
Rocky Mountain Institute breaks ground on net-zero Innovation Center
Encompassing the Rocky Mountain Institute’s 32 years of innovation, the new 15,610 square-foot facility will exhibit the principles of integrative design and energy and resource efficiency.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
