Title: Tybee Island Marine Science Center
Location of Proejct: Tybee Island, Georgia
Project Completion Date: 11/30/2020
Firm Name: Sottile & Sottile

Short Description: The Tybee Island Marine Science Center is a model for resilient design. The Center exemplifies a variety of strategies that promote social, economic and environmental resilience including an inclusive public design process, a flexible adaptable interior, local sustainably sourced materials, and a design that anticipates near term severe weather events as well as long term climate uncertainty. The building is a tangible expression of The Science Center’s mission is to shape responsible stewardship of Coastal Georgia’s natural resources through marine science-based education, conservation, and research.

Architect's Statement: Design Program:

The challenge was to replace the former Marine Science Center facility, an adapted 3,000 SF police precinct constructed in the late 1970’s on the south end of the Island with a new facility containing approximately 5,000 SF. of conditioned space and 5,000 SF of covered passively ventilated space. The program includes galleries, educational labs, animal rescue and husbandry. The new north beach location is a cultural district that includes a museum, a historic lighthouse and a community theater.

As a local, grass roots non-profit, the Science Center needed a facility that offered long term flexibility and adaptability, allowing staff members to build, install, modify and rotate exhibits over time, run plumbing, electricity and data to any part of the galleries, as well as perform minor repairs and maintenance tasks without having to fundamentally alter interior walls and floors.

The site also directly adjoins a sensitive undeveloped dune habitat as well as the Atlantic coast, and is subject to the direct landfall of tropical storms and hurricanes with the accompanying storm surge, wave action and destructive wind speeds. It also overlooks a section of beach that is an active nesting ground for sea turtles, which are adversely impacted by shoreward light pollution, even at very low levels, during hatching season. The design needed to react to all of these environmental pressures while taking an open and extroverted posture toward this extraordinary site; allowing the dune habitat and ocean to form the Center’s largest and most compelling exhibit.

Context:

The Center is located at the north end of Tybee Island. It overlooks the largest natural maritime dune habitat on the island with views of the beach, the ocean and the river inlet. The design employs a number of strategies to respond to the assets and challenges of this unique site.

The structure is an elevated slab with an engineered-timber framed structure on the main level. Far exceeding FEMA requirements, the main level is over 8 feet above the Base Flood Elevation, anticipating a worst-case storm surge as well as longer term sea level rise due to climate change.

The ventilated lower level allows flood waters to pass below the structure without transferring lateral forces into the vertical structure from the enclosing walls, while the floor is made of pervious sand-set clay pavers, allowing any spills to percolate into the sand and avoiding storm sewer impact.

The building’s cladding is composed of 70% pre-consumer recycled fly ash. It is highly resistant to moisture and dimensionally stable under significant fluctuations in temperature and humidity; ideally suited to the marine environment.

Main level flooring and exterior decking is South Carolina Black Locust, the strongest and most rot resistant wood indigenous to North America. Unlike exotic hardwoods it does not contribute to tropical deforestation.

Both of the building’s exhibit galleries include floor to ceiling north-facing glazing, and a continuous porch with dune habitat overlooks, allowing the natural landscape to serve as the largest single educational exhibit to be interpreted by the Science Center.

Additional Design Programming Background:

Designing for Equitable Communities:

The conceptual design was undertaken in the context of a three-day on-site Charrette. Every resident of Tybee Island was invited to the event and community feedback was central to the design. As a result, the project enjoys broad support both by City Leadership and the community. Projects that are embraced as a result of an open public process enjoy the resilience that comes through a community with a sense of protective ownership and pride of place.

Designing for Economy:

The main level includes a pedestal floor that allows flexible power, plumbing and other infrastructure to be run below the floor and modified by staff members by simply removing floor sections.

The building has very few fixed interior partitions, allowing the flexible exhibits to create spatial definition and direct visitor flow through the space, while decreasing the probability of future disruptions and wasteful interior renovations.

Designing for Ecosystems:

The design and materiality of the building were carefully considered for environmental resilience and adaptability. The design also educates the public on the sensitivity and importance of this ecosystem by opening the building dramatically toward the habitat.

Additional strategies include a rain water harvesting system with a cistern that gathers rainwater from the roof and stores it for use in irrigation and equipment wash-down. The glazing on the building has a .40 visible light transmittance value allowing the building to be lit on the interior at night during turtle nesting season without drawing hatchlings toward the shore. All exterior lighting is shielded, turtle-safe amber LED.