Smithsonian Institution Charles McC. Mathias Environmental Research Laboratory
Steven Groh (MArch ’86, BPS ’83)
View of Smithsonian Institution Charles McC. Mathias Environmental Research Laboratory
Steven Groh was appointed in 2020 as the first emeritus architect at the Smithsonian Institution following his retirement after 21 years in the Office of Design and Construction. His diverse project portfolio included full responsibility for all planning, design and construction activities for the 2,650-acre Smithsonian Environmental Research Center on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory with locations in Chile, Hawaii, Arizona and Massachusetts, as well as the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He has held similar positions at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, National Museum of the American Indian and the National Art and Portrait Gallery. Notable completed projects include the relocation of the Smithsonian/NASA orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory’s Control Center in Massachusetts and the complete renovation of the historic circa 1735 Woodlawn House in Maryland, the Smithsonian’s oldest structure. Current projects include the design and construction of six robotically constructed, two-family, two-story sustainable net-zero visitor scientist housing cottages at the Environmental Research Center.
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory, completed in 2015, is the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s (SERC) principal environmental and research facility. Situated on a 2,650-acre campus, SERC employs 180 scientists primarily focused on coastal ecology studying man’s impacts on the fragile land-sea interface. The lab was designed accordingly as a “living laboratory” and an integrated, living part of the environment, not a structure sitting upon it. The lab is the first LEED Platinum Smithsonian building and was awarded the prestigious “Building the Future” award from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at ceremonies at the Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Project Credits: Smithsonian Institution (owner); Steven Groh (architect, program and project manager); EwingCole Architects (designer)
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