The Chugach Regional Resource Commission’s Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute new building is situated at the southern-most extent of town in Seward, on the Resurrection Bay waterfront. The new multi-purpose building, the Patrick (Ratii) Norman Facilities Expansion, will offer support to their coast and marine ecosystem health research efforts.

The new building will include dedicated office space, two new labs, and a large multi-purpose classroom space.

A simple plan diagram keeps the form in line with the rest of the functional campus buildings. The popped up multi-purpose classroom paired with an angling curtain wall provides an identity to the campus on approach while also visually communicating the more public vs. private areas of the building.

The building represents the public face of the APMI. The clients desired an aesthetic that was modern yet grounded in cultural identity. MRV took inspiration from a few elements of the traditional Alutiiq home, the ciqlluaq, or sod house, a subterranean building created from large timbers and covered with sod. To achieve the feeling of entering a sod house, the new facility’s door is inset and has a slightly lower roof; the board and batten façade speaks to timbers exposed to the exterior with the battens extending past the roof to create a playful roofline, mimicking the grasses of the sod.

This project will constructed using mass-timber, pulling from the traditional large timber construction of the ciqlluaq. Exposed CLT roof panels carry throughout the building, providing warmth and cultural relevance. Mass timber was pursued for it’s carbon capture features, a parallel to the continued environmental efforts of the Marine Institute.

This project is currently in design and is expected to begin construction in Spring of 2027.