John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Interpretive Center

Key Largo, FL

Details
Lobby, multipurpose room/theater, gift shop, concessions, support spaces
Exhibits including aquarium, marine lab, outdoor interpretive and gathering areas, coral nursery
Sustainable design features
Design Architect: GWWO Architects; Managing Firm: K2M Design
Owner
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Services
Programming, site analysis, fundraising materials, stakeholder & community involvement, cost estimating, sustainable design

Renowned for being the country’s first undersea park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is home to 72 nautical square miles of incomparable undersea resources, including colorful coral reefs and teeming marine life, as well as dense mangrove swamps and tropical hammocks that are explored by more than one million annual visitors.

Designed to achieve long-term resiliency, this new interpretive center reimagines the visitor experience at the park through intuitive wayfinding, interactive exhibits, and wildlife observation areas.

Situated along the coast, the center emerges from the water as a clear recreational destination while enriching visitor appreciation of the park’s natural environment and larger marine ecosystem. With a facade clad in Florida Key Limestone—a material derived from fossils of marine organisms such as corals and mollusks—and framed by native vegetation, the center blends in with its surrounding natural habitat.

The building takes inspiration from the surrounding natural context. The three major programmatic aspects of exhibits, multipurpose, and concessionaire become clusters of one larger ecosystem, with the lobby as a ravine to move through and connect these forms. Metal canopies stretch out from the lobby space to guide and embrace visitors, while the roofs over the multipurpose space and exhibits slope towards the central lobby—guiding visitors towards the water, the main destination of the park complex.

Upon entering the light-filled lobby, visitors are encouraged to observe a variety of interpretive exhibits, an indoor marine lab, and a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. An adjacent multi-purpose room provides flexible space for educational events, interpretive film showings, group meetings, and storage, while a concessions and gift shop area provides visitors with refreshments and keepsakes. The design for the new facility integrates pathways throughout the site, expanding outdoor learning opportunities as visitors seamlessly navigate towards the waterfront where live coral nurseries can be observed.

After visitors have moved through the building, the waterfront beckons, simply for viewing—and observing the onsite coral nursery and propagation activities—or for departing for water-based recreation activities. The center’s “social stair” because a waiting point for visitors on land, while the stair and split form guide people back upon return from their activities.