The building features both indoor and outdoor classroom areas

Interior view, hydronic heating is powered primarily by solar collectors on the roof

Strawbale seating in the outdoor classroom

Located by the Berkeley Marina, the building is easily accessible to the general public

Shorebird Nature Center

The Shorebird Nature Center is one the first civic buildings to be built out of straw bale in the United States. Designed with fellow architect Greg VanMechelen, the project provided a much needed enlargement of the city's marine environment education center, and created a showplace for sustainable design.