The Marine Education Center serves as a destination point for the locals and visitors to Ashland. It creates an organized focus on educating people on nature and their immediate environment. For this to come to fruition a pursuit of aesthetic and sustainability goals came to the forefront. The first thing that was necessary to the achievement of these goals was the reconnection of the site to the waterfront in order to allow for the most seamless connection to the waterfront between the building and the site. 

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Another aspect of the project that was imperative to the success was the orientation of the building. This allowed for the framing of compelling views as well as creating a large south façade for adequate solar gain, reducing the amount of energy need to heat the building. With those two taken care of the rest of the building was able to fall in to place. All of this helped the development of the façade to complement the aesthetic, spatial, and sustainability goals. The building is able to take on the goals of the project itself, showing the city of Ashland the possibility of a sustainable future in the relation to Lake Superior.