The Center for Design Research (CDR) is an addition to the Chamney House, which was part of a historic dairy farm purchased by the University of Kansas in 1963 and is now part of its campus. The CDR serves as a location for interdisciplinary research and development of consumer products and services while educating the surrounding communities about sustainable strategies. The rectangular stone and glass addition is attached to the back of the existing house by a covered deck. It extends toward the historic Chamney Barn, exposing a long south elevation.

The interior spaces feature the raw expression of mill-finished steel, limestone, glass, and plants. Two elements stand out most: the living wall of ferns and begonias covering the north wall, and the stone-and-glass Trombe wall that makes up much of the south elevation. The Trombe wall is a passive solar assembly composed of two walls separated by an enclosed air space. The inner wall is made of a high-mass material, in this case stone, while the outer wall is glass. On sunny days, the stone mass absorbs heat from direct sunlight and the air space, then slowly releases the stored heat into the building at night. The south elevation also features electrochromic glass units that use electrically charged layers of ceramic film to tint the glass to varying degrees and manage sunlight and heat in response to changes in the building’s use or weather conditions. The stone cladding and Trombe wall incorporate 100 tons of stone tailings, a waste product of finished stone production that would otherwise typically be transported from the quarry to a landfill.