Challenger Learning Center of Arizona

The Orcutt/Winslow Partnership - Phoenix, AZ

Background

Artist Robert McCall stood in the dark at the front of the long narrowtable in the Orcutt/Winslow conference room and, for the next hour,clicked through more than 100 slides of his work. McCall, one ofAmerica's leading visionary artists of the cosmos, had been invited byPaul Winslow to share his powerful images of the future with theOrcutt/Winslow staff; maybe even inspire those on the team as they beganprogramming for the design of the Peoria Challenger Center, a pet projectfor both McCall and Orcutt/Winslow. By the time the McCall's last slidehad dropped in the projector, there was no doubt that everyone in theroom was "on board" the Challenger project.

And so it began: In 1995, at the request of Congressman Robert Stump'sstaff and the Peoria Economic Development Group, Herman Orcutt had joinedin the efforts to bring the Challenger Center program to the Valley; PaulWinslow was in the process of assisting the Peoria Unified SchoolDistrict in its efforts to visually develop the learning center project;and, now, Bob McCall had announced he would lend his name to the museumslated to be built adjacent to the first Challenger Center in theSouthwest.

For Orcutt/Winslow, it was an honor to be the architectural firm ofrecord on the design of one of the most technologically advancedspace-science education centers in the country.

The Project

Founded in 1986 by the families of the Challenger 51-L crew, theChallenger Center for Space Science Education organization had createdChallenger Learning Centers as a "living legacy" to the crew. Thelearning centers encourage a long-term interest in math, science andtechnology and motivate students to pursue careers in these fields.Since most students learn about space in the classroom, either throughhistory lessons or watching missions on televisions in the classroom, thelearning centers were an extension of the efforts of crew members,Christa McCauliffe in particular, to educate the public about spacemissions. Using the concept of simulation as an instructional tool, eachChallenger Center creates a program that gives students (primarily fifthto eighth graders) the opportunity to fly missions to the moon, travel toMars and get close to comets in simulated flight. During each mission,students perform interactive operational tasks, tackle the challenges ofemergencies in space and learn what it's like to work as a team.

With efforts to secure an Arizona commission of the Challenger Centerproject begun in 1995 by Arizona Congressman Bob Stump and acongressional delegation of leaders, the idea of an Arizona center wasborn. Peoria Unified School District and the city of Peoria were invitedto make application for the center, and with the commitment of Dr. PaulKoehler, superintendent of the Peoria schools, the application wasaccepted by the national organization in 1996. With that began thechallenge of raising funds for the project. Through a legislativeappropriation, the state of Arizona contributed $600,000 to the project.The city of Peoria made a cash contribution and the school districtdonated the land. Major corporations across the state contributed from$500,000 to $25,000 to support the center and local businesses donatedin-kind services.

The Experience

While most centers must conform to the parameters of an existingbuilding, the Challenger Learning Center of Arizona project presented aunique opportunity to build from the ground up.

In 1997, with land by the Peoria school district and a not-for profitorganization raising the nearly $3.5 million necessary to build theproject, the design team began working with Peoria students -- keyplayers in the development of the project -- in "visioning" what thecenter might look like. Within a short period of time, conceptualdrawings started giving real life to the project.

In October of 1998, the finished model was unveiled to reveal a NASAhanger-type building design. Materials chosen specifically to enunciatethe illusion of space travel are used throughout the warehouse-likebuilding to reflect the most contemporary technology practical. From thewhite metal siding, to the curtain wall of reflective glass on the faceof the triangular structure, to the steel gantry and exterior stairway,the simple yet dynamic design creates an image of the future appropriateto its function.

Using computer technology, Orcutt/Winslow created a virtual-reality tourof the interior of the 21,000-s.f. building to give a bird's eye view ofwhat students would encounter as they began their "journey" into space:

From the large dish antennae at the entrance to the center to a metalgantry that leads visitors into the four-story building, the sense ofbeing taken into a new dimension of time is overwhelming. When thearchitectural team programmed with students during the conceptual stagesof the project, it was clear that students wanted sights, sounds, smellsand textures to play a major role in the "experience" at the center. Theteam took the suggestion and incorporated stimulants to each of thesenses throughout a series of technology-driven entry sequences, furtherenhancing the "space" experience.

At the main exhibit area, McCall's "Tour of the Universe" mural wrapsaround the circumference of the four-story rotunda and greets studentsentering from the gantry. A glass elevator offers a vertical ridethrough the tower and a full view of the mural and exhibits below.Circling the rotunda, students arrive at the orientation room for anoverview of the mission they are about to begin.

From there, the trip to the upper floor begins, where the briefing room,mission control and the shuttle await them. An entry hall, created topresent the illusion of stepping into an actual flight entry port, is thefinal step prior to program participants beginning their mission. Atthat point, the design follows the instructional path established by thenational Challenger Center program. Once the mission has concluded,students move to a special debriefing room and then "decelerate" back toearth¹s environment, exiting the program area through a final space-likeportal to return to the interior of the center.

Once "back on earth," the group travels to the lower level of thebuilding to view exhibits and purchase gifts and refreshments at thecafe. The exit portal on the lower level opens to a cool, shaded areawith native plants and quiet spaces where students can take a moment toreflect on their trip. They can also choose to visit an observationdeck on the roof of the upper level that offers an excellent perspectiveof the desert sky for planet viewing and nighttime astronomy activities.

Future plans call for the McCall Museum of Space Art to be built next tothe Challenger Center. More than 350 pieces of McCall's creations,ranging from 10-foot-high murals to postage stamps depicting his visionsof the future, will be housed in the museum.

Groundbreaking

On October 29, 1998, shortly before John Glenn took his final journeyinto space on the Discovery space shuttle, several students were usingsmall shovels to break ground on the new Challenger Center in Peoria.Scheduled to be built in 1999 on land donated by the Peoria UnifiedSchool District, the Challenger project represents a unique opportunityto bring one of the most technologically sophisticated space educationcenters to the Valley. The McCall Museum of Space Art, to be built nextdoor to the Challenger Center, will feature the work of space artist andValley resident Bob McCall. McCall is famous for his large-scale muralsof outerspace and powerful images of space travel created for NASA andthe motion-picture industry.

Groundbreaking came just days after the project team, led by Sandi Hicksof the Challenger Learning Center of Peoria and Orcutt/Winslow designersMark Patterson and Tom Pistorius, returned from a trip to San Diego wherethey visited the Challenger Center there and promoted the Peoria project.

Taking part in the dedication and groundbreaking ceremony were variousArizona political and educational leaders. Family members of theChallenger crew, Grace Corrigan, mother of Christa McCauliffe, and MajorRichard Scobee, son of Commander Scobee, were on hand to watch the launchof the Discovery shuttle and dedicate the project.

The Technology

In each phase of design for the Peoria Challenger Center, the team tookfull advantage of the technology available to them. According toShabbir Boxwala, Orcutt/Winslow's computer systems administrator, thisproject gave the firm the opportunity to use ArchiCAD to create its firstvirtual building. "We've been using ArchiCAD for a few years now," saidBoxwala, "but this was a dream project that let us use the program to itsfullest extent for the first time. The entire computer modeldemonstrates this, but certain features, for instance the entry bridge,are good examples of the program¹s ability to simulate detail. Theexterior staircase, which we created using StairMaker, is anotherexcellent example of the detail that can be generated using ArchiCAD."

Using the texture-mapping tools, which Boxwala considers one of the mostpowerful tools within the ArchiCAD program, the team incorporated colorschemes, artwork and lighting effects. Even simple pict files weremapped to objects using the tool. Paintings of McCall's were scanned,saved as pict files and incorporated within the interior views of thebuilding. Various metal samples were similarly scanned, as were imagesof concrete, grills and perforated walkways, all adding to the reality ofthe final images.

Every document on the project, all drawing and presentation filesincluding site plans, floor plans, elevations and sections, were createdin ArchiCAD. Three-dimensional perspectives and views were generatedfrom the same drawing files, and when necessary, the team created customlibrary parts using GDL for detailed parts when modeling the building.The power of the software was demonstrated early on when the teamdiscovered a portion of the upper-level roof could serve as anobservation deck, a possibility that only presented itself through thecomputer model.

The team spent more than two weeks developing the basic model. Oncedetails had been created and images finalized, the time-consumingprocess of rendering began. It took approximately seven weeks to get theanimation, interior lighting and interior spaces simulated, for which theteam used Artlantis Render.

"When we had finished the computer model, the client could study clearheights, interior lighting, the effects of the sun and shadows within thespaces and how different materials would work," added Boxwala. "We evenhad reflections in the glass. And the fly-throughs gave them a clearimage of what they would see when they approached the site and what thismultistory space would 'feel' like when they walked into the building."

The result was a true virtual building from which construction documents,elevation sections and fly-throughs were generated. To aid the districtin fundraising and promoting the project, a video presentation featuringthe fly-through animation was output to VHS format for presentations andfor use by the news media.

The Peoria Challenger Center project and its associated images can beviewed on the Orcutt/Winslow website at www.owp.com.

State of the Art at Orcutt/Winslow

Computer technology plays an integral role in the architectural practiceat Orcutt/Winslow. A centralized network linked through fiber opticsconnects three buildings and allows staff to share resources and tie intoother users. Currently, Orcutt/Winslow has 75 users with 57 CADDstations, five servers, three large-format plotters, seven printers,bulletin board service (BBS), remote access server, Internet/intranetserver, database server, print central server, several laptops that cantie into the network via modem, and a range of software programs, someof which are custom designed to address special in-house needs. Inaddition, the firm has its own web server and all users have e-mail andInternet access.

In order to realize the benefits of CADD, comprehensive standards fororganizing information in CADD drawings needed to be developed. To meetthose needs, a committee made up of Orcutt/Winslow staff was formed toeducate, develop and implement the standards. In 1997, anemployee-development team was also created to provide in-house computertraining for new employees and to keep the rest of the staff up to speedon the ever-changing world of technology.