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LEED Gold Certification

The Desert Research Institute (DRI)desired architecture of understated elegance, permanence and an impression of the importance of its internal research operations. Equally important was the need to plan for future expansion as the budget was restrained and the project needed to be planned for potential phasing. A staggered array of research modules was developed in direct response to the program. The building mass traverses the natural topography of the sloping site and takes advantage of extending the south facing front along the east west axis with minimal impact on the site. The south elevation is dressed in a curtain wall assembly to maximize views for individual research offices and maximize the natural daylight. DRI's premiere attraction for this facility is the Computer Activated Virtual Environment (CAVE) is located on the North side of the building. The CAVE is given its own formal identity as a taller vertical element wrapped in red flat metal panels as a counterpoint to the repetitive transparency of the building. It is designed as a black-box to house the state-of-the art six-sided virtual environment equipment which is one of four that exist in the United States.

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