Marlon Blackwell Architects clads Arkansas building in giraffe stone for "sense of place"
Arkansas studio Marlon Blackwell Architects has completed the headquarters building for the Heartland Whole Health Institute, which features a curved form and facades covered in stonework resembling a giraffe's hide. The three-storey building is located within the 134-acre (54-hectare) Crystal Bridges Campus in Bentonville, Arkansas. It serves as the new home of the Heartland Whole The post Marlon Blackwell Architects clads Arkansas building in giraffe stone for "sense of place" appeared first on Dezeen.
Arkansas studio Marlon Blackwell Architects has completed the headquarters building for the Heartland Whole Health Institute, which features a curved form and facades covered in stonework resembling a giraffe's hide.
The three-storey building is located within the 134-acre (54-hectare) Crystal Bridges Campus in Bentonville, Arkansas.
It serves as the new home of the Heartland Whole Health Institute, founded in 2019 by philanthropist Alice Walton, who is the daughter of the founder of retail giant Walmart.
The nonprofit organisation aims to transform the healthcare system. It works with the health care industry to advocate for a "whole-health approach" to prevent disease, improve health outcomes and sustain wellness.
Designed by local studio Marlon Blackwell Architects, the headquarters building brings together "architecture, art, nature, education and wellness offerings".
Encompassing 85,000 square feet (7,897 square metres), the building was designed to draw upon its context and integrate with the landscape. Irregular in plan, it has a slender, curvilinear form with forms branching off, seen in a street-facing volume at ground level.
The building has two main facade treatments.
The lower portion is covered in giraffe stone, a vernacular style of cladding found in the region. It typically consists of flat-faced field stones of varying sizes that are mortared into place, forming a pattern that resembles a giraffe's hide.
"For this project, it has been developed as a highly durable and insulated masonry cavity wall," the team said, adding that the stones came from quarries in Arkansas and nearby Oklahoma.
The building's upper portion is lined with vertical fins made of pre-weathered brass, which provide shade while also relating to the "textures of the wooded site".
The same brass was also used for wall panels, soffits and trim.
Portions of the ground level are cut away to form dogtrots, which are open-ended passageways found in vernacular-style homes in the region. A dogtrot near the entrance "acts as a threshold to the flexible west lawn and the forest beyond".
Inside, one finds airy spaces and earthy materials, including travertine flooring, wool carpeting and plywood with pecan and walnut veneers. Wood ceilings throughout help tie the rooms together and provide a cohesive feel.
Beyond the materiality, a connection to nature is provided through ample glazing and numerous terraces and other outdoor spaces.
"The openness of the building and direct access to the natural surroundings provide a nurturing environment to actively explore whole health principles," the team said.
It offers a mix of work and social spaces. The ground level holds a cafe, event space and areas for exhibiting artwork.
Upper levels contain offices for the Heartland Whole Health Institute, along with the Alice L Walton Foundation and the Art Bridges Foundation, the latter being an organisation dedicated to improving access to art around the country.
The building has a number of sustainable elements, including the use of local materials, shading devices and a high-performance building envelope.
Marlon Blackwell Architects was informed by the local context, particularly the forests and the karst landscape, a type of topography with caves and springs.
"The curvilinear forms and native stone are inspired by the Ozark forest and karst topography of the region, and respond to the sense of place of the Crystal Bridges Campus," the team said.
The headquarters building marks the third major addition to the campus.
The Alice L Walton School of Medicine, designed by Arkansas firm Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, opened on the campus in July.
The campus is also home to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, designed by Boston-based Safdie Architects. The museum is undergoing an expansion slated to be completed in 2026.
Other projects in Bentonville, Arkansas, include the headquarters for Walmart by Gensler and SWA Group, which features mass-timber buildings and artificial lakes, and a series of angular, asymmetrical buildings by Marlon Blackwell Architects for a private school focused on hands-on learning.
The photography is by Timothy Hursley.
Project credits:
Architect: Marlon Blackwell Architects
Architecture team: Marlon Blackwell (founding partner and design director), Meryati Johari Blackwell (partner and creative director), Josh Matthews, Justin Hershberger, Ryan Camp, Will Ramhold, Stephen Reyenga, Anna Morrison, Ari Sogin, Carley Chastain, Carla Chang Mata, Colby Ritter, Hannah Both, Nick Thorn, Paul Mosley, Sarah Little, Scott Kervin, Spencer Curtis, William Burks, Zach Grewe, Sally Richmond, Garrett Coker, Sloan Aulgur, Jackson Fisher
Acoustics: Threshold Acoustics
Civil: CESO, EDG
Code: Code Solutions Group
Landscape: Michael Boucher Landscape
Lighting: TM Light
MEP: HSA Engineering
Structural and envelope: Studio NYL
Heartland Whole Health Institute leadership: Alice Walton (founder and board chair), Claude Pirtle (interim executive director), John Findley (chief medical officer), Casey Solomons (associate vice president, health care transformation), Sarah Bemis (associate vice president, workforce and policy affairs)
The post Marlon Blackwell Architects clads Arkansas building in giraffe stone for "sense of place" appeared first on Dezeen.
