The Green Oaks Biological Research Station, situated in a forest in rural Illinois belonging to Knox College, builds on existing facilities to provide a platform for research, study, instruction and living in the heart of the College's forestry research habitat. Subtle in its simplicity, the project uses an X-shaped plan to accommodate and also separate the various uses, responding to adjacent spaces, structures and landscapes while also referencing the X in the school's name. Drawing on numerous architectural threads, the building takes inspiration from sources as diverse as the Jeffersonian University of Virginia campus and the iconic red barns of rural Illinois.