Hudson-Meng Bonebed Research Visitor Center

The Hudson-Meng Bonebed site contains the largest bison bonebed of its age in the western hemisphere, harboring the remains of an extinct 10,000 year old Plains Bison species. Remains of over 600 bison have been found, along with stone tools and projectiles, attracting researchers with the U.S. Forest Service. The Education and Research Center is a 7,000SF temporary structure (designed for easy disassembly and re-assembly on-site) that provides year-round researcher and controlled visitor access to the bonebed while reducing erosion and environmental impacts to the site.

The structure’s current location minimizes disruption to the bonebed while taking advantage of an existing pond as a means of natural screening and site circulation. Located within Nebraska’s rolling hills, a grove of cottonwoods establishes a natural “place.” Trees and hills screen the parking. Visitors leave their cars and move towards the pond along the edge of the trees. A bridge serves as a natural threshold and marks the arrival to the visitor center.

Built of low-tech industrial materials, sustainable design strategies provide natural lighting, ventilation, and water collection for the space. Bowstring trusses span the bonebed floor, hovering over the exterior wall panels sheathed in galvanized corrugated steel, providing a subtle connection to the surrounding architecture and a figural complement to the gentle rolling landscape. Natural daylight is provided into the research facility through transparent wall panels. Coiling overhead doors open to capture natural ventilation. Metal cisterns collect rainwater that is then utilized by researchers in cleaning bone specimens. Catwalks along the periphery and a mobile bridge that traverses the bone-bed floor provide access to the bonebed.