Located in the undulating lawn and trees landscape of King County’s Lakewood Park, the Technology Access Foundation’s new home provides classroom space for the foundation and community meeting space for the neighborhood. Nestling the building into the landform, preserving existing trees and connecting the building to the parking lot with a land bridge helped marry the learning center to the park. Planting adjacent to the building was minimized to emphasize the placement of building form into the landscape. Roof run-off is collected and sent to a stormwater planter set into the building, providing seasonal interest adjacent to the center’s outdoor terrace. Parking lot plantings emphasize drought tolerant materials with native and adapted plants.

This project is a successful example of King County Parks’ public/private partnerships and won a 2013 Seattle AIA Honorable Mention award.