Dawson Construction delivered the U.S. Forest Service Juneau Forestry Sciences Lab as a Design-Build project, constructing an 11,260 square foot, two-story wood-framed federal research facility on a 7-acre parcel reserved since the 1960s for Forest Service research and administration. The building houses the Pacific Northwest Research Station's Juneau Forestry Sciences Lab, scientists from the Alaska Coastal Temperate Rain Forest Center, and University of Alaska Southeast students, creating a collaborative hub for forest science research in Southeast Alaska.
Designed by MRV Architects, PC, the facility provides offices, research laboratories, and meeting rooms to accommodate approximately 30 forestry scientists and employees. A notable cultural feature is the front entrance, which displays two ten-foot tall Native Alaskan house posts carved by a Tlingit Master Carver, memorializing the ancestors of local Native Alaskan tribes and honoring the deep connection between Indigenous peoples and the Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest national forest at 16.7 million acres.
The project achieved LEED Gold certification through multiple sustainable building practices. Key green features include a ground source heat system that harnesses the earth's thermal energy for heating and cooling, optimized lumber packages designed to minimize construction waste, and power shedding technology to reduce electric power consumption. These elements align with the Forest Service's mission of environmental stewardship, and the ground source heat system delivers significant ongoing energy savings.
From emergency repairs to ground-up builds, Dawson teams deliver across Southeast Alaska and Northwest Washington.
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