A Home for Agricultural Research, Education and Extension

The Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Science reflects the three pillar mission of any land grant institution: research, extension and education. It is organized into two wings — research space for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture which includes a water quality laboratory and an extension office for the State’s Agricultural Science. The space gives scientists access to quality research laboratories and provides space to hold a variety of different educational meetings, allowing the institution to deliver agricultural research discoveries to those who will be able to take advantage of them.

The modular labs are highly efficient and provide researchers with a bright, open and light-filled space with views to the surrounding fields. The administrative building is comprised of offices with a large multi-purpose room for community outreach, conferences and forums. The double volume space, surrounded by glass, is easily seen on approach and is literally and symbolically inviting as the northern gateway to the University.

Inspired by the rural Arkansas landscape, the design emulates elements of heavy agriculture machinery, utilitarian farm structures, and the rectilinear pattern of cultivated fields. The parallel, rectangular wings are slightly skewed for optimal solar orientation. An existing drainage ditch to the north was transformed into an organically shaped rain garden — which displays rainwater conservation while speaking to the dichotomy between natural and agrarian landscapes.