Staff Reports
The Orange Audubon Nature Center, created for the Apopka Birding Park but is unbuilt yet, earned an American Institute of Architecture (AIA) Orlando 2025 Design Award of Merit.
Presented every year to honor outstanding design, the AIA awards are judged by an independent expert panel consisting of representatives from architecture and design firms from Charleston, S.C., New York City, and Jackson, Miss.
The Nature Center will be constructed at the entrance to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive by transforming a former truck repair shop into a 3,400-square-foot, sustainability-focused educational visitor’s center.
Little Diversified Architectural Consulting designed the Nature Center to have hands-on exhibits, a gallery of rotating displays, ADA-compliant classroom space.
“This center symbolizes the spirit of regeneration and education that has guided the restoration of Lake Apopka,” Deborah Green, president of the Orange Audubon Society, said in a statement. “It’s not just a place for birdwatching; it’s a call to action for conservation.”
The Orange Audubon Nature Center was one of 18 recognized architectural designs entered in the Unbuilt Category.
“The jury appreciated the engagement with the clients’ values, the natural context and the commitment to making an educational and ecological mature intervention,” the May 9 AIA Orlando Design Awards program stated.
Little Diversified Architectural Consultant is a national interdisciplinary design firm that has over 450 professionals across the nation.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
Follow The Apopka Chief on Facebook.
Follow The Apopka Chief on X.
Follow The Apopka Chief on Instagram.
