[University of Kansas - Passerine Pavilion - COVER IMG] Passerine Pavilion, on approach. (Credit: Chad Kraus)

Passerine Pavilion

CompanyUniversity of Kansas
University/SchoolUniversity of Kansas
Lead ArchitectDirt Works Studio
ClientDouglas County Public Works

The Passerine Pavilion is a grassland bird poised to leap from the hill into a prairie landscape. The overlook’s wings, perched on four pairs of steel columns, slope back toward its tail. The feather-patterned, aluminum-clad roof provides protection. A break in the steel and limestone gabion wall acts as a threshold into a prairie garden. The wood deck cantilevers into the open air, instilling a sensation of rising above the landscape. This arrangement affords all visitors, regardless of their mobility, an experience of beholding the Wakarusa River Valley.