This project involved the transformation of a former bank building located on one of the largest remaining Pine Barren ecosystem preserves into a discovery center. Surrounding landscape offered the opportunity for a native educational landscape. Three arched corten steel planting beds lead the visitor to the Discovery Center. As part of the educational priority of the design, each planted bed represents a successional ecosystem phase. An educational playground is based on the life cycle of the Karner butterfly, identified and named by novelist and lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov in the Albany Pine Bush. A children’s labyrinth - Butterfly Garden - leads to a sculpture of the Karner Blue. An outdoor/tent pavilion hosts community and educational events amid naturalized plantings. Restoration of the natural trails and the creation of a vernal pond add to create a unique natural experience.