Project:
The project began as a welcome center to be located at the 7-mile marker, north of the Oklahoma border on the Kansas Turnpike. Construction had started on the building when it was determined that the new visitor center should be located at the Belle Plain Service Center 20-miles to the north. To adapt the building to the new site, the original design had to be flipped and a restaurant added.

The materials used in the building make reference Kansas. A rotunda is the entry element to the visitor center. The material and shape of the entry rotunda are similar to the grain silo’s found throughout the state. Cast into the upper ring of the rotunda is the state motto "Ad Astra Per Aspera". A custom designed sunflower by Greteman Group was formed into the floor using terrazzo and on the exterior of the building as a component of the building signage. The blue curtainwall alludes to the open sky. The triangular roof shape is similar to the wing of a plane, acknowledging the aircraft industry. Native limestone was used for the walls.

A local artist Randal Jullian was hired to design and fabricate a series of quoins that depict the history of Kansas. These quoins were set into the segmented stone walls that extend from the building to the south. A John Deere tractor disk was powder coated and used in a custom designed wall sconce.

Project Size:
6,000 Sq. Ft.

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