Sustaining and Enriching our Urban Environment: Nature Conservancy Headquarters, Indianapolis, Ind.

by Rundell Ernstberger Associates, LLC

This is the view from the east alley and north parking lot of the new Nature Conservancy headquarters (Efroymson Conservation Center Building) in Indianapolis, Ind. The bioswale garden, which includes plantings of great blue lobelia, blue flag iris, a variety of sedges and winterberry, receives all the site?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Efroymson Conservation Center (ECC), the new state headquarters for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in downtown Indianapolis, Ind., is the latest award-winning sustainable site design by project landscape architect and site design team leader, Rundell Ernstberger Associates, LLC (REA). The ECC is situated on a former industrial and commercial site. It has been transformed into a model for sustainable urban infill development, featuring an innovative site and building design.

The former NEMEC building and site comprise three masonry and timber buildings, impermeable pavements, virtually no green space, plus an unfriendly street frontage. The $4.5 million building and site project (total is $9 million with land acquisition, endowment, and furnishings) was completed in April 2010. It includes the 20,000 square foot ECC, native gardens, flexible outdoor spaces, parking and one of the most progressive stormwater systems, all contained on a one-acre site. The site design achieves a balance between showcasing native Indiana landscapes and providing functional outdoor spaces for employees and visitors. The site and building promote and facilitate the conservation of energy resources and strive to be truly sustainable.

The development of a sustainable site like the ECC is not surprising from TNC, an organization that has been active in conservation for decades. The conservation organization has protected nearly 700,000 acres of forest, wetlands, caves and prairie throughout the state since 1959.

After leasing facilities in Indianapolis for 34 years, the TNC Board decided in 2006 it made long-term financial sense to build a new headquarters in the economically emerging, highly urban Cole-Noble District, located on the near East side of downtown Indianapolis. The district, known for its Georgian, Federal and Art Deco architecture, is home to a large variety of small businesses, condo and apartment buildings and landmarks like Easley Winery and Harrison College. The Cole-Noble district is named after the Cole Motor Car Co. (1909-1925) and Noah Noble, Indiana governor, 1831-1839.

Locating TNC on Ohio Street in Cole-Noble contributes economically to the city, and most importantly, situates the Nature Conservancy staff and leadership close to government and business partners. The Efroymson Conservation Center location provides an opportunity to showcase their statewide work through highly visible native gardens, promotes sustainability by providing easily accessible building tours and gives local board members the opportunity to share TNC?EUR??,,????'?????<

The west side parking area features highly-reflective permeable pavers, a stone pathway, brick site walls constructed of salvaged bricks from the old site and a perennial garden separated from a stone surfaced meeting space with no-mow turf. These nonirrigated gardens of trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials cover roughly 14,000 sq. ft. of the site, screening parking, softening edges, providing seasonal color and displaying species not normally seen in urban environments.

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The former NEMEC building vs. the new Efroymson Conservation Center. The old site comprised three masonry and timber buildings, impermeable pavements, virtually no green space, plus an unfriendly street frontage.

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REA was privileged to provide landscape architectural design services to a visionary client, a talented and innovative design team, and a unique and trend-setting project. REA?EUR??,,????'?????<

The front of the building parallels Ohio Street. The landscape here represents limestone glade and prairie landscapes. Native plants not often seen along Indianapolis sidewalks include red cedar, pale purple coneflower, woodland sunflower and little bluestem.

Sustainable Design Solutions
The following site design features highlight the success of the ECC site design. The parking and field operation staging areas are minimal in size and quantity to meet employee needs and help to maximize green space. Roughly half of the site is covered by pervious surface treatments, allowing potentially harmful runoff contaminants like phosphorus and nitrogen to be filtered at the source. These areas also double as special event space for various TNC fundraising and community events. Highly-reflective permeable pavers and concrete pavement allow sheet-flow drainage to enter one main bioswale.

A 16-foot high green modular retaining wall (Hercules LiveWall) represents the cliffs of southern Indiana. The sloping and spacing of the wall to the building allows natural light to the basement level rooms and saves space on the site for more native gardens, creating cost savings by reducing the need for more upper level building square footage. From these basement rooms, the staff now looks out on plantings of columbine, maidenhair fern, wild geranium and wintergreen.

Stormwater Management
The bioswale is a distinct native garden receiving all of the site?EUR??,,????'?????<

The ECC?EUR??,,????'?????<

The lower-level green roof is 500 sq. ft. and incorporates a 24-inch depth planted system: Litetop ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Retaining all of the site?EUR??,,????'?????<

The extensive second level green roof (7,500 sq. ft.) employs a 4-inch tray system (LiveRoof). The tray modules are made of 100 percent post-consumer polypropylene. In this system, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Green Wall
Another planted feature is the 16-foot high green wall, which represents the cliff sides of southern Indiana. The green wall brings natural light to the basement-level Meyer board rooms and saves space on the site for more native gardens, creating cost savings by reducing the need for more upper level building square footage. Visitors in these spaces will not feel like they have descended into a dreary basement, but will be exposed to a backdrop of columbine, maidenhair fern, wild geranium and wintergreen.

Green Roofs
There are two green roofs: an intensive, 24-inch depth planted system (500 sq. ft.), and one extensive 4-inch tray system (7,500 sq. ft.). The green roofs reduce the heat island effect, absorb water and carbon, while emitting precious oxygen. The green roofs are functional in a variety of ways, but perhaps most importantly, they provide visual interest. The extensive roof features nonnative sedum species, but they are adequately contained and pose little threat of spreading undesirably. A component of the building?EUR??,,????'?????<

Bluestone paving from the back parking lot leads to the center?EUR??,,????'?????<

While the native gardens and stormwater system are the ECC?EUR??,,????'?????<

Project Attributes

• Unrelenting pursuit of sustainability goals, from concept to construction to post-occupancy.
  
• No additional site runoff directed to the combined sewer overflow system.
  
• Native gardens, accessible to the public, illustrate the conservation work of TNC.
  
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• Site design that responds to TNC?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Signature project for Indianapolis that demonstrates the landscape architect?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Owner / Project Team

• The Nature Conservancy, Indianapolis (owner)
  
• Rundell Ernstberger Associates (landscape architecture, site design leader)
  
• Axis Architecture + Interiors (architecture)
  
• EMH&T (civil engineering)
  
• Elements Engineering (civil engineering / LEED)
  
• LandTech Irrigation Consultants (irrigation consultation)
  
• Circle Design Group (mechanical, electrical, plumbing engineering)
  
• Lynch, Harrison & Brumleve (structural engineering)
  
• Wilhem Construction (general contractor)
  
• Kreager Brothers (site / utility contractor)
  
• Becker Landscape Contractors (landscape / pavement contractor)

Featured Site Design Materials

• Permeable Pavers ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Recycled Parking Stops ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• In-Grade Light Fixtures (LED) ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Pole Light Fixtures (LED) ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Green Wall ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Bench ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Green Roof, Extensive (2nd level) ?EUR??,,????'?????<
• Green Roof, Intensive (1st level) ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Firm Profile
Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA), established in 1979, provides land planning, urban design, and landscape architectural services. The staff of 18 includes six registered landscape architects and 10 graduate landscape architects in three offices in Indianapolis and Muncie, Ind., and Louisville, Ky. REA has participated as prime consultants to municipalities, governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, private institutions and universities in more than 20 states. Creative approaches to master planning and site design, a career-long focus on sustainable site design and its ability to organize and manage multidisciplinary design teams have allowed REA to work on a wide variety of projects. Rundell Ernstberger Associates has been recognized by its peers in landscape architecture as a leading firm in the Midwest, and has received more than 50 local, national and international design awards. www.reasite.com