Youngmeyer Field Station in the Flint Hills of Kansas offers rural magnificence as an off-the-grid research facility

The roof has a clean line with a sculpted edge. (Photos by Brad Feinknopf, DeZeen)

Off the grid and set into the land of the Flint Hills of southeast Kansas, the Youngmeyer Field Station of Wichita State University stands out with its curved stone and stretching windows gracing a bluff. The station, built by Kansas studio Hutton, was designed "to integrate with the landscape and to withstand heavy winds and other natural forces, reports Jenna McKnight for DeZeen. "The building sits within the 4,700-acre Youngmeyer Ranch, an active cattle ranch and research site." Hutton explained the design: "Like the dugouts of the Midwestern frontier days, the field station is partially embedded in the earth to protect the facility from northern winds and to further the contextual camouflage."

The station houses "a laboratory, meeting space, and a garage, along with living quarters to accommodate up to six researchers. . . . The facility is not tied to public utilities. Rooftop solar panels generate electricity, and water is collected on-site." McKnight writes. "The area's plants, animals, soils and waterways are of interest to researchers, particularly given the ranch's location within Flint Hills, a region known for its important tall-grass prairie ecosystem. Once vast, this type of ecosystem has declined since the 1800s due to farming."

The building's design offers a peculiar integration into the surrounding land, as if the structure had come up from the ground. "Façades consist of four varieties of local limestone, arranged in bands that emulate the layers of sediment in the surrounding hills. One of the stone varieties, Prairie Shell, contains fossilized shells that hint at the story of the prehistoric era," McKnight writes. "To maintain a discrete profile, the team created a 'clean roof line' with a sculpted edge. . . . For added protection from both wind and wildfire, the facility is made of concrete and clad in durable and noncombustible exterior materials such as limestone and glass."

The building's meticulously designed interior brings forth a layer of delight. Station team members told McKnight, "Visitors can take a scavenger hunt around the building for fossils preserved and on display in the walls, including a perfect nautilus right by the front door." McKnight adds: "One finds earthy finishes such as wood and stone and a color palette evoking natural elements such as sediment, heads of grain and the sky. . . . The communal room, which looks to the south and east, is afforded sweeping views of the landscape through large stretches of glass. . . . The team noted that the closest neighboring property is a few miles down the road."