Roth Trailhead

The University of Kansas Field Station invited the Dirt Works Studio to design and build a new trailhead on the McColl Nature Reserve in honor of Stan and Janet Roth, a beloved Lawrence couple. The Roth Trailhead serves as a gateway into the Field Station, an ode to the landscape in which it rests, a gathering place for nature lovers, and an artifact that tells the land's tale and reveals its great history recorded beneath. The design of the Roth Trailhead concentrates on a few basic tectonic elements, including a punctuated rammed earth wall proportioned on the Fibonacci sequence; a path guiding visitors along the wall, a sun-shading canopy hovering atop the wall, and an outdoor classroom that opens onto the prairie beyond.