The 9,300-sf Lenfest Center provides a home for the Natural Lands Trust’s management of conservation and maintenance of the ChesLen Preserve.

Established in 2007, Cheslen Preserve encompasses 1,263 acres of soybean and hay fields, wooded stream corridors, and rare serpentine barrens. The Lenfest Center houses offices, maintenance facilities, and event space for the 20-acre property. Keast & Hood provided structural engineering design for the new building. The structural scope involved heavy timber roof framing, concrete foundations and lower level maintenance shop, and steel framing. A separate pavilion features a masonry fireplace and chimney. Sustainable features, including geothermal heat pumps and recycled materials contribute to the building’s sense of stewardship for the preserve.

The Lenfest Center earned a 2013 Architect’s Challenge Award from Marvin Windows, a 2013 Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Excellence Award for Best Institutional Project Under $10 million, and a 2013 PA Society of American Registered Architects Design Award.

The 9,300-sf Lenfest Center provides a home for the Natural Lands Trust’s management of conservation and maintenance of the ChesLen Preserve.

Established in 2007, Cheslen Preserve encompasses 1,263 acres of soybean and hay fields, wooded stream corridors, and rare serpentine barrens. The Lenfest Center houses offices, maintenance facilities, and event space for the 20-acre property. Keast & Hood provided structural engineering design for the new building. The structural scope involved heavy timber roof framing, concrete foundations and lower level maintenance shop, and steel framing. A separate pavilion features a masonry fireplace and chimney. Sustainable features, including geothermal heat pumps and recycled materials contribute to the building’s sense of stewardship for the preserve.

The Lenfest Center earned a 2013 Architect’s Challenge Award from Marvin Windows, a 2013 Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Excellence Award for Best Institutional Project Under $10 million, and a 2013 PA Society of American Registered Architects Design Award.

CLIENT: Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd.
LOCATION: Coatesville, PA

TYPE: Cultural, SERVICES: New Construction, MATERIALS: Concrete, Heavy Timber, Masonry, Steel, Wood, SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Completed project photography © Angle Eye Photography