The first Certified Passive House laboratory facility in North America, the Warren Woods Field station occupies a 42-acre site in southwest Michigan. It serves the University of Chicago’s Department of Ecology and Evolution, with facilities for research, educational programs, and retreats. In addition to a fully equipped laboratory, the program included seminar space, bathrooms, and a small kitchen.
The department’s ecological focus and remote location presented a natural fit for an energy efficient building with low maintenance and operating costs. But while residential in scale, the project posed technical challenges far beyond those of a typical Passive House program. To manage the large quantity of heat generated by plant-growth chambers, a -80°C freezer, and tools for DNA extraction, we located the laboratory space at the building’s relatively cool northwest corner, with a deep overhang shading its west-facing windows from the late-day sun. The ventilation system allows waste heat to be exhausted to the outdoors or retained to condition the entire building, as required.
A long shed roof yields a high, open volume for the main gathering spaces and accommodates a private loft over the laboratory. Extensive glazing along the south-facing wall collects passive solar heat during the winter months, while moveable, perforated-metal screens prevent overheating during Michigan’s hot, humid summers. The superinsulated concrete slab floor acts as a thermal flywheel to buffer temperature swings year-round.
Combining abstractly geometric massing, spare detailing, and industrial materials with a rustic skin of distressed cedar siding, the building’s form speaks to both its remote and beautiful setting and its role in the advanced study of natural systems.
