Gunpowder State Park -Ranger Headquaters

Located on the Gunpowder River in Eastern Baltimore County in the beautiful Hammerman area of the Gunpowder State Park. This new Service facility was built as a replacement for the aged existing facility located in the same footprint. This new 25,000 SF building complex  includes program space for the Department of Natural Resources Staff and Guards, a Health Center, conference and meeting center.  A fully operational kitchen facility to serve food and snacks to the general public.  A complete lower level dedicated to a change and shower facility for men and women with family changing rooms were amended as well.

 This facility was built to compliment the existing 250 acre Hammerman area park.

 The project is the first designed and constructed LEED Certified registered building for the State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources. As such, the building and project were required to meet rigid standards to achieve this certification. These included limited site disturbance and the recycling of the demolished existing building which resulted in recycling over 800 tons of material. Renewal products such as wood framing, solar reflective roofing, highly insulated rigid deck components, recycled exterior plastic deck boards and millwork crafted from wheat board materials created from wheat grasses were utilized.

 The building contains multiple mechanical systems designed to allow for maximum recycling of limited natural resources such as water. These systems include an elaborate rain collection system where rain water is captured from gutters and downspouts and moved to two 20,000 gallon storage tanks to be used as a grey water flushing system for the toilets. In addition, non flushing chemical urinals are incorporated to limit the water usage for the building. All of these systems can be used with normal public water systems in the event of drought