The Sterling Forest Visitor Center serves as the gateway to a 15,800-acre wildlife preserve encompassing an historic iron mine and foundry site and the largest unbroken deep-forest habitat in the Hudson Valley. The design draws from the rustic Park structures of the 1930s, reflecting both the character of the landscape and the Park Agency’s goals for resource conservation and responsible environmental design.

The building is sited at the head of a ravine emptying into the south shore of Sterling Lake, allowing ground-floor auditorium and archive functions to be accommodated while maintaining a low, shelter-like profile. A walk through the building to the Observation Deck reveals a commanding panoramic view of the lake as the grade drops away. The lobby anchors the plan, with exhibit and public areas in full view of the receptionist and administrative and educational wings extending east and west to allow for future expansion.

Material choices reflect the preserve itself. Twenty standing-dead hemlock trees were harvested from blighted stands within the park, milled, and fashioned into the building’s primary column grid. Pratt trusses fabricated from Douglas fir and steel tension rods reference the foundry buildings and railroad trestles of the early 1800s. Interior moldings and trim were milled from the salvaged remains of a wormy chestnut log cabin. Operable clerestories provide natural light and ventilation, supplemented by radiant floor heating and smart building technologies for water and energy management.