Siegel & Strain recently completed a master plan of the new Laguna Learning Center for the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation. The non-profit organization is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a unique ecological system covering more than 30,000 acres and comprised of a mosaic of creeks, open water, perennial marshes, seasonal wetlands, riparian forests, oak woodlands and grasslands. The Laguna Learning Center will be the centerpiece of their outreach effort to advance public understanding and appreciation of this magnificent natural resource.

The site for the new Learning Center is an 1860’s farmstead west of Santa Rosa. The historic farmhouse will be converted to offices for the foundation and the three historic barns will be rehabilitated. A new Interpretive Center will house exhibit and classroom space, offices, and a small catering kitchen. The Interpretive Center, with stylistic roots in Sonoma County’s agrarian past, will take advantage of passive and active sustainable design strategies to heat and cool the building with little environmental impact, and will serve as a model of sustainable development for visitors.