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Cedarcreek, Missouri, USA

Architects: BNIM
Design Team: Craig Scranton, Josh Harrold, April Trotter, Barb Cugno, and Adam Weichman
Client: Missouri State University
Photographers: Kelly Callewaert

Located within the Ozark Mountain region of southern Missouri, the Bull Shoals Field Station provides applied research and education opportunities for Missouri State University’s (MSU) College of Ecology, the Natural & Applied Sciences Department, and other research and educational organizations.

A new Education Center at the Field Station had been a vision for the College for many years. After much exploration, MSU secured a second plot of land deep within the Drury-Mincy Conservation Area.

This new location allows for students to have an expanded and more diverse study of the southern Missouri natural environment and allows the Department to reach more students, more natural science organizations, and many high schoolers.

The new MSU Ozarks Education Center provides an immersive environment for extended study of the natural ecology of the Ozarks.

At approximately 4,000 GSF, the new Education Center comprises sleeping and bathing quarters, a communal dining and multi-purpose room, classroom space, and room for programs.

The main building houses a bathhouse and a multi-purpose community space that can accommodate small and large groups of up to 60 people.

The cabins, which accommodate 23 overnight guests at a time, are nested in the topography and forest to immerse guests in the surrounding environment and provide a full sensory experience.