Architectural Group Gives Highest Award to Bartlett Reflection Center

October 5, 2009

October 5, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — DePauw University's Bartlett Reflection Center is the recipient of the highest recognition, an Honor Award, from the Indiana chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Indiana). The AIA's 2009 Annual Design Awards awards were presented Friday at a ceremony in Cincinnati. Recognizing the top designs by Indiana architects, the awards were judged by a panel of Alabama architects.

Designed by CSO Architects and dedicated on April 24, 2009, the Bartlett Reflection Center was conceived as a quiet, contemplative place within the DePauw University Nature Park where students, alumni, faculty and staff can retreat. The building was to tread lightly upon the earth and provide a meditative place in which to commune with nature. The 2,413 square foot structure was designed sustainably, to minimize its impact on the environment and its immediate environs; the building was constructed with natural, regional and recycled materials; and the site and adjacent habitat were restored with native Indiana plants and incorporates a natural rainwater treatment pond. The building envelope, mechanical and electrical systems were carefully modeled, analyzed and designed to optimize energy performance, and the interior environments were designed to maximize natural light and views of the Nature Park.

A gift by Jim and Sue Bartlett, both 1966 graduates of DePauw, made the Reflection Center possible.

Earlier this year, the Reflection Center received LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The building joins the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, which became the state's first LEED-New Construction Gold building in 2008. DePauw became the only institution in Indiana with more than one LEED Gold building.

The Prindle Institute (pictured at left) was honored by AIA Indiana at last year's awards program.

Announced in September 2003 and dedicated a year later, the DePauw Nature Park's other features include seven trails, a campground and canoe launch, an outdoor amphitheatre, research areas, and the Ian and Mimi Rolland Welcome and Activities Center and the Manning Environmental Field Station.

Visit the DePauw Nature Park online.

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