Aldo Leopold Legacy Center
There are few people who can claim such a legacy as the one Aldo Leopold has left in the environmental movement. The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center was designed to encapsulate and preserve that legacy, sharing his love for the outdoors with visitors for generations. The center comprises a cluster of buildings totaling an area just shy of 12,000 SF, located near Leopold’s trademark shack.
Housed within the center are classrooms for educational programming and outreach, an exhibit area with authentic Leopold artifacts, an archival and library space to access digitized writings, photos and sketches, and laboratories, workrooms and equipment to allow work to continue in scientific and social research related to ecological restoration. Surrounding the center is a network of 2.5 miles of trails through oak, savanna, wetlands and dry prairie remnant, overlooking the Wisconsin River Valley.
The project is a master work in sustainable design and construction, earning the center the title of the world’s first carbon-neutral building and becoming the first building in Wisconsin to achieve LEED – Platinum status. And as a zero net energy building, the center actually produces more than 110% of its annual energy needs.
Aldo Leopold Legacy Center
Baraboo, Wisconsin
The Kubala Washakto Architects
- Construction Manager
- Sustainable/LEED-certified
New Construction
109,000 SF
Platinum
Project Highlights
- The Legacy Center was Wisconsin’s first LEED® Platinum-certified project.
- The new facility’s “zero net energy” site employs low-tech/high-yield energy strategies and carbon-neutral design.
