Interview+with+Architect

=**Interview with an Architect**= By Meredith

This interview is with my dad, whose architecture firm ([|BCWH]) designed the Nature Center at Maymont. This interview is about what kind of thought the firm had to put into designing a space for animals.

(To read more about Maymont click on Animal Rescue Centers in Virginia on the navigation bar, to the left.)
 * About the [|Nature Center]:** The Robins Nature & Visitor Center, completed in 1999, is dedicated to educating people about wildlife native to Virginia. Complete with a 20-foot waterfall that runs into 1 of 13 giant aquariums, the animals include river otters, turtles, and a variety of fish.


 * Q**: What was the hardest animal habitat to design?
 * A**: The otter habitat because there are many different species of otters and the exhibits need to be specific to the habitat of the species you'll house. Also, several pairs of otters take turns being in the public part of the exhibit and it is an indoor/outdoor exhibit.


 * Q**: What made the project interesting?
 * A**: The project was interesting because the theme of the project was around the James River and the habitats and species as it flows through the city of Richmond

(a fall line is an imaginary line, marked by waterfalls and rapids where rivers descend abruptly from an upland to a lowland.)
 * Q**: What kinds of things did you have to keep in mind when designing the Nature Center?
 * A**:We tried to use a lot of natural materials that would compliment the theme of the building and Maymont itself. The building was built on a hillside to simulate the fall line of the James River.


 * Q**: How did designing habitats for animals compare to designing a space for just humans?
 * A**: Well, there had to be special equipment and systems for the animal habitats, special water filtration systems, and special rock exhibits. For the rock exhibits we brought in a world famous rock sculpture who created fake, simulated rocks.


 * Sources:** [|www.maymont.com], BCWH, definition of a fall line from www.dictionary.com, and interview courtesy Chuck Wray.