The Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center inspires a new generation of environmental stewards to consider the complicated history of the natural world and energy production, how they intertwine, and their mutually beneficial potential.
As a net zero building that meets Governor Cuomo’s recently signed Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s objectives almost thirty years before its targets, the building itself, as well as its real- time energy performance, are prominently displayed as part of the permanent exhibition.
The building’s linear footprint emerges from the reuse of foundations belonging to a Robert Moses-era bathhouse, extended on two sides with additional piles. At 330 feet in length, the new one-story building has been designed as a “chalet for all”, continuing the public legacy of the site. Organized around a series of interior volumes housing offices, support spaces and classrooms, a continuous sequence of exhibition spaces flows outwards to a shaded exterior perimeter deck, and onwards to the site at large. The building’s distinctive wave-like form conveys the underlying organization in both energy and nature.
