Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, image courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, image courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

American architect Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has designed the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center located in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The center was organized as an U-shape to form a central courtyard, the roof tilts upward and away from the courtyard, its jagged edges celebrating the peaks of the Teton Range beyond.

+ Project description courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

The 23,000 square foot Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, is a partnership project funded by the National Park Service, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, and the Grand Teton Association. The center will welcome visitors to Grand Teton National Park and is a focal point to orient, educate and inspire visitors.

The Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, located near Moose, Wyoming on the Park’s southern border, is the Grand Teton National Park’s first new visitor center in the past 30 years; it is projected to serve the visiting public for the next 100 years as a world class center in a world renowned national park.

Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, image courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Interactive exhibits designed by Ralph Applebaum Associates focus on four main themes that are important to the park: Place, People, Preservation and Mountaineering. Highlights include: life-size wildlife sculptures, mountaineering and western memorabilia, a three-dimensional park map, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an impressive rock fireplace. A unique feature of the center are its three “video rivers.” As you stroll through the building, continuous footage of Teton images are projected on 4′ x 15′ glass screens which form the walkways beneath your feet.

Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, image courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Numerous sustainable building practices are incorporated into the building, including recycled glass tiles, carpet with post-consumer and post-industrial content, high efficiency cooling and electrical systems, natural lighting, and paints with no harmful chemicals. All wood elements of the building, including logs and glulam timbers, are Forest Stewardship Council-certified and the concrete used in the building has a high percentage of fly ash in the aggregate.

Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, sketch plan courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

+ Project credits / data

Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Project: Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center
Location: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Sustainable materials: Western Red Cedar

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

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