It's not just about the buildings: Integrating the outdoors

When the setting of the building is part of the site’s narrative, layering on the integration of views, pathways, and destinations from inside the building to specific points outside contribute to a feeling of a fully connected story.
May 12, 2025
3 min read
Photo courtesy GWWO
Photo courtesy GWWO
Photo courtesy GWWO

This blog post was authored by Terry Squyres, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Principal, GWWO Architects.

Many of us in the architecture profession have heard from friends and acquaintances that being an architect was one of their early ideas for a great future job. There are plenty of famous TV and movie characters who were architects: Mike Brady, the dad in the classic TV show The Brady Bunch; George from Seinfeld, who regularly pretended to be an architect; Adam Sandler in Click, and other celebrities who could have subliminally inspired countless career aspirations—even Brad Pitt has a well-known interest in architecture.

Based in this not-uncommon childhood interest, many people have a good sense of what architects do—we design building forms and interior spaces that are meant to inspire, improve and support every aspect of our lives.

Photo courtesy GWWO
Berks Nature’s covered outdoor roof deck, which overlooks their magnificent wetlands and creek bed, doubles the size of “The Rookery,” their multipurpose learning and event space, whose glass end wall can open completely to seamlessly connect the serene indoor and outdoor environments. Photo courtesy GWWO
Berks Nature’s covered outdoor roof deck, which overlooks their magnificent wetlands and creek bed, doubles the size of “The Rookery,” their multipurpose learning and event space, whose glass end wall can open completely to seamlessly connect the serene indoor and outdoor environments. Photo courtesy GWWO
Photo courtesy GWWO
The position of the new White Clay Creek State Park interpretive center on its site enables its historically contextual outdoor covered porch to be an integral part of the reconnected Tri-State Trail through the site. As hikers and bikers stop for respite and shelter along their way, they’ll be attracted to the adjacent interior exhibit hall which will showcase native wildlife and natural history. Photo courtesy GWWO
The position of the new White Clay Creek State Park interpretive center on its site enables its historically contextual outdoor covered porch to be an integral part of the reconnected Tri-State Trail through the site. As hikers and bikers stop for respite and shelter along their way, they’ll be attracted to the adjacent interior exhibit hall which will showcase native wildlife and natural history. Photo courtesy GWWO

What may surprise people to learn is how vital the design of outdoor space is to the success of the buildings and indoor spaces we design. Dan Kiley, one of the world’s great landscape architects, said, “The land should never be an afterthought to the architecture; it should enhance and complete it, creating a seamless relationship between inside and out." Our partnerships with landscape architects help us to integrate the design of indoor and outdoor spaces to create a harmonious spatial sequence where each enriches the other.

The indoor-outdoor relationship can—and should—go far beyond strategically located visual and physical connections that frame the beauty of the natural or urban environment. In our cultural design practice, the setting of the interpretive center is often a cornerstone of the interpretive story. A visitor’s immersion into “the story of the place” begins the moment they set foot on the site. Rather than dividing the visitor experience into two unrelated outdoor, then indoor experiences, ideally, the visitors will follow a sequence of educational steps that seamlessly flow between outdoor and indoor and back again, both physically and visually, along a path that strengthens the understanding of the place.

Photo courtesy GWWO
At the Everglades Visitor Center, the new pedestrian bridge that leads from the parking lot to the building entrance becomes part of the interpretive educational journey by engaging visitors in the natural environment. It serves as a physical and mental transition zone between the arrival journey and the educational exhibits inside. Photo courtesy GWWO
At the Everglades Visitor Center, the new pedestrian bridge that leads from the parking lot to the building entrance becomes part of the interpretive educational journey by engaging visitors in the natural environment. It serves as a physical and mental transition zone between the arrival journey and the educational exhibits inside. Photo courtesy GWWO

When the setting of the building is part of the site’s narrative, layering on the integration of views, pathways and destinations from inside the building to specific points outside contribute to a feeling of a fully connected story. Periodic opportunities to see and physically engage with the site’s history and cultural story, woven through the visit to the site, can bring the narrative forward to enrich the visitor experience.

If you shared our childhood dream of designing architecture, you likely enjoy beautifully designed outdoor spaces as well. Keep your eyes open for these exquisite connections.

Photo courtesy GWWO
Harriet Tubman’s story is an outdoor story – her work traveling the Underground Railroad was intertwined completely with the landscape of her home region. At the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Museum, the landscape is designed to be a setting similar to what would have been there during her life – fields, marshes, and forests - to provide a wholistic environment for the visitor. Windows from the interior educational exhibits frame views of the path north towards freedom, and engage the landscape itself as an exhibit, showing the contrast and tension between being exposed in the fields and finding cover in the trees during the escapes. Photo courtesy GWWO
Harriet Tubman’s story is an outdoor story – her work traveling the Underground Railroad was intertwined completely with the landscape of her home region. At the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Museum, the landscape is designed to be a setting similar to what would have been there during her life – fields, marshes, and forests - to provide a wholistic environment for the visitor. Windows from the interior educational exhibits frame views of the path north towards freedom, and engage the landscape itself as an exhibit, showing the contrast and tension between being exposed in the fields and finding cover in the trees during the escapes. Photo courtesy GWWO

About the Author

GWWO

At GWWO, we are architects, thinkers, wonderers, creators, partners, collaborators, debaters, and questioners. It is in this spirit—and based on our desire to engage, share, and discuss—that we blog. Our intent is to bring you news from the industry and our cultural and educational markets, to discuss our point of view, to pose thought-provoking questions, and to engage in discussion with our readers. We invite your suggestions, questions, and comments and look forward to an open and lively dialogue. Visit our blog site, and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

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