Bend Science Station

K-12 students and their teachers in Central Oregon have a new space for science experiments, research, and training at Bend Science Station on the Oregon State University–Cascades campus. The 3,750-square-foot building allows the STEM program to increase capacity, deliver new programming, develop new partnerships, and serve as a public resource for science education. It also provides young students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds early exposure to a university campus and learning environment.

Bend Science Station features two state-of-the-art learning labs, a laboratory prep room for guided research, and a teacher training lab and observation space. To facilitate practical physics instruction and experiments, Hennebery Eddy’s academic laboratory design includes a tower at the building’s east end housing a demonstration platform. The building is configured as a simple ramp, sloping from the community up toward the OSU-Cascades campus, with the exterior clad in standing seam metal panels and western red cedar.

A distinctive tower allows for interactive learning and experimentation.

Enrolled in the Energy Trust of Oregon Path to Net Zero program, Bend Science Station is one of the first buildings of its type in Central Oregon designed to achieve net-zero energy. It is expected to produce more energy than it consumes on a net-yearly basis, through a combination of rooftop solar panels and energy use reductions realized by high-efficiency heat pumps, water heaters, and lighting and passive measures like building orientation and natural ventilation systems.

For an in-depth look at the design process for Bend Science Station, view the project monograph.

View Monograph