The Community Environmental Council is set to open the doors of its brand new Environmental Hub — a 10,000-square-foot space — to the public this week with a ribbon cutting, an inaugural art installation and a grand opening celebration.

By the end of the year, the Hub will be one of the few, if not the only, commercial spaces in Santa Barbara to be a zero net energy building, the CEC said.

The environmental nonprofit’s goal is to create a collaborative, community-oriented space for work addressing the climate crisis.

They hope the Hub, located at 1219 State Street, provides a centralized location for the local community to learn about and engage with environmental issues such as climate policy, climate justice, clean energy, and climate-conscious agriculture. 

“The type of climate work that we do, really requires the community, it requires people to come together,” Community Environmental Council CEO Sigrid Wright said. “It’s not just us, obviously, solving the problem, but it’s creating space for the public to come in. That’s how we landed here.”

The Hub hosts a media lab for community members to create podcasts and run webinars in a soundproof environment with basic technological equipment provided.

CEC also incorporated lofted offices for CEC executives, conference rooms for various local organizations to use as a meeting space, bike racks mounted on the wall, and a coffee-break area. 

The team that designed the new Environmental Hub include Wright, Andrulaitis + Mixon architect Joe Andrulaitis, and MN Studio’s Melissa Mohr Brown and Natalie Greenside. 

The design group sought to emulate aspects of the natural world in the architecture and design of the Hub. The entrance imitates a grove of trees with zig-zagged office spaces acting as a meandering path and the low-ceiling acting as a canopy.

The pathway leads to the main gathering area of the Hub with high-ceilings and copious natural light, imitating an open meadow. 

“CEC is an environmental company, and we wanted to bring some nature into the space,” Andrulaitis said. “You have this dynamic between a low ceiling transitionary to a more high volume area so the concept was bringing nature into the space.” 

CEC looked to incorporate sustainable materials in constructing the Hub including reclaimed wood, cork plank, sawdust, recycled plastic and paper. 

One of the more unique components of the new space’s design include a ficus tree planted indoors at the heart of the Hub. 

“It just brings a nice touch of nature in here and people can sit around it on their laptops and do work. It fills the space really nicely and adds a nice touch,” Andrulaitis said. 

When the CEC was founded in 1970 in response to the 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill, the burgeoning environmental organization began its advocacy at the corner of State and Anapamu streets.

According to Wright, the establishment of the Environmental Hub presents a “full circle” moment. 

“We’ve been in various locations over the last 50 years, but most of them were a little bit tucked away. We ran community programs, but we didn’t have a community facing presence — and that was a long standing dream of mine to get us,” she said.

“Well, I didn’t think I was gonna be able to get us on a State Street but to get us on the streets, paved streets, definitely the realization of a dream.” 

The Environmental Hub will first open on Thursday, with events planned as part of 1st Thursday. It will be open 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 1219 State St. and a ribbon-cutting is planned for 5:30 p.m.