Awaking Waters as a thesis project focuses on providing a place for the scientific research of Minnesota's in-land waterways. The project aims to create space the furthers research and is also transparent to the public. The building itself will aim to respond to the landscape it is in and will have a limiting impact on its natural environment. To do this effectively, extensive comparisons wand conclusions will be drawn from water ecosystems. The project will aim to create an analogy between the passive qualities of wetlands and the passive systems in a building. This will also be done between the active qualities of a river and the active systems of a building. Furthermore, complete integration of building systems will be placed at the highest importance so that a fully functional and cohesive center results. Much like an ecosystem in nature, a building must be treated as a sum of its parts. Through these design considerations, Awaking Waters seeks to provide state-of-the-art research facilities and bring the public in to learn about nature while limiting the building's impact on the landscape.