A Historical Revival: The Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability

In Claremont, California, situated on the Pitzer Collegecampus is the recently unveiled renovation and adaptation of a 1931 building formerly serving as an infirmary for Pitzer and several other Claremont Colleges. In its new life as the Robert Redford Conservancyfor Southern California Sustainability and for the Bernard Biological Field Station, the Spanish Revival-style building takes on the intersection of science, art and ecology.

The 10,500 square feet of interiors, designed by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, include classrooms for science and the arts, conservancy offices, and an office and lab for the field station, exhibit space, informal study nooks, and two naturally ventilated sunrooms.

Set within a 12-acre site north from the main campus, the project “takes full advantage of the pristine natural surroundings with the integration of 3,500 square feet of outdoor classrooms, plus lounge space and a ‘council ring’ for face-to-face discussions in informal outdoor settings,” notes the project description.

“We wanted to make the building connect intrinsically, and to make it a beautiful place to learn in,” said Kevin Krumdieck, principal at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE. “And we wanted to make regenerative in nature, so that when you go there, you leave feeling refreshed.”

The site stopped being an infirmary in the 1960s, and then lay dormant after suffering fire damage from protests in the 1970s. School officials initially thought to tear it down, but the local historical society prevented them from doing so. After being abandoned and shuttered for 40 years, plans for the Robert Redford Conservancy took shape.

Where once the site was overgrown and the interiors smoke-filled and dark, now sits a pristine landscape of carefully selected vegetation encircling a renewed structure of learning spaces, communal gathering areas, research offices and galleries carefully woven together.

“Every hallway became a space where people could work,” said Mr. Krumdieck. “It’s an open, communal gathering place, where the space in between things creates connection.”

The connections between indoors and outdoors was incredibly meaningful to every aspect of the project.

“We wanted to immerse the outdoor spaces in nature. The new outdoor structures are modern, minimal, light and airy, and they are surrounded by nature,” said Mr. Krumdieck. “They create a contrast with the natural historical character of the original building. But we wanted to show that you can do both in regenerative design – create something new and modern, and hold onto something that already exists, weaving it all together.”

“We wanted the transitions from indoors to outdoors to happen in a way that you wouldn’t move indoor to outdoor in just one step, but as a journey instead.”

In addition to earning LEED Platinum, the renovated academic building is also currently being monitored for a 12-month period in pursuit of Net Zero Energy certification, indicating the building produces at least as much energy as it consumes in operation.

“To help achieve this, new solar photovoltaic panels installed atop the roof structures of the two outdoor classrooms are planned to generate 88,000 kilowatt-hours annually,” notes the project description.

“Because the building’s redesign includes skylights and large-format glazing for maximizing penetration of natural daylight, plus passive strategies for thermal comfort, the solar energy generated from the panel arrays is expected to provide sufficient electricity for operation year-round…Installing the solar panels on the outdoor classroom roofs also allowed the project to maintain the original historic character of the building.”

Instead of covering up the old façade, the design team renewed the original plaster on the exterior of the building to preserve the historical fabric of the site in a more meaningful way.

“On the interior, we tried to keep the history of the front rooms intact,” said Mr. Krumdieck. “But then as you move deeper into the building, it becomes more modern. Where possible, we tried to keep things like original tiling in place. And we were planning to build an elevator on the interior, but then it occurred to us halfway through that process that a small lift on the building’s exterior that is just as efficient and much more affordable.”

The design team emphasized natural and low-impact sustainable design methods across the site’s 12 acres.

“The city planners wanted to protect the tree canopies, and the field station wanted us to select drought-tolerant, solely native plant species,” noted Mr. Krumdieck.

Rather than simply researching the native plant species and sourcing them from a nursery or other location, the landscape design team actually took cuttings and seeds from the actual building site, re-growing and planting what was once present. Any on-site paved areas are porous and minimized to accommodate service and emergency access. The landscape design team harvested rock cobble from the site to create natural pathways, and anynon-native brush and other plant life that had been brought in over the years was pulled away.

The renewed historical site is one that can move successfully into the future – a well-executed living eco-lab that people looking forward to visiting.