La Nube STEAM Discovery Center is both a forward-thinking structure and concept, revolutionizing the potential for civic engagement, education, and entertainment through unlimited ingenuity and creativity by uniquely emphasizing both STEM and the Arts.
The decision to create a hybrid center resulted in a place where everyone, no matter their background, can explore the wonders of both fields with uninhabited curiosity. La Nube stands proudly in the core of El Paso, TX, symbolic of the city’s
diversity, originality, and inclusive efforts to bring people together in a joyous place.
Such an ambitious and culturally significant project necessitated an equally original and inventive architectural design. Encompassing the playful, family appeal and the project’s mission to make the exploration and education of ideas and creativity
accessible to all of El Paso, La Nube’s structure emulates its namesake—The Cloud—using metal wall and roof panels to construct a place where children and families can dream.
The shape of La Nube is inspired by the limitless possibilities of the sky and clouds. The sky symbolizes a non-existent ceiling, to keep reaching and dreaming. Clouds represent ideas, able to be in any shape, constantly changing, and as limitless as
the sky they float along. The building’s silhouette takes on a cloudlike shape, the top of the building curving like the bubbles of cloud drawings and then sloping into a triangle. Accents on the building like the triangle side of the roof,
square, chimney like extrusion, and circular and oval windows along the walls, blends the artistry of shapes with the geometric likes of STEM.
The architect of the project, Snøhetta, said of the project on their website, “The building’s unique geometries immediately set it apart in the city’s skyline: the rectilinear base is wrapped in glass, providing interior views
to entice passersby to stop inside the public lobby, and is topped by a rippling succession of barrel vaults which soar to a cloud-like crown.”
The roof of La Nube dons ATAS’ 1-1/2” Field-Lok panels in 24-gauge steel in Titanium. Field-Lok offers striations with the traditional appearance
of standing seam, which La Nube has. Plank ribs are standard, but they can also be curved with or without plank ribs with curved trims available. The panel is tightly fitted to the edge of the roof and curved on La Nube, outlining the roof in a shade
that shimmers a futuristic, galactic silver, as La Nube seeks to foster the minds of the future in its mission.
Cladding La Nube are ATAS’ Versa-Seam panels in .040 aluminum in Ascot White, Bone White, and a custom color white. Versa-Seam modular wall panels are offered in various widths and lengths to create a unique appearance. The standard color offerings
from the 40+ color options, in addition to custom color capabilities, paint the cloud-like façade of the building in an alternative, staggering pattern in the vertical application. Cut along the bottom of the façade and in addition to
its geometric window details, are floor to ceiling windows, vibrantly lit with nebula colors of the interactive exhibits inside the building that are suitable for all ages. From the right angle, the transparency of the windows and color choices of
the cladding create the illusion of La Nube as an actual cloud floating in the heart of El Paso. Nestled in between the Versa-Seam panels are tiny lights that twinkle against the panels and night sky that mimic the appearance of stars. Such attentive
details are ingenious design feats, keeping the heart of what La Nube represents and offers to the community alive: innovative and creative thinking to build a beautiful, better world.
With his involvement in this project, Steve Minunni, Director of Modular Wall Systems with ATAS, said, “It was rewarding to help the design team achieve what they envisioned on the initial renderings for the La Nube project. With ATAS’ wide
selection of modular wall panel and roof systems, it allowed the designers a multitude of profiles and colors to choose from, while receiving support from a single source supplier.”
La Nube celebrated its first anniversary of being open to the public on August 9, 2025, hosting a birthday celebration and reaffirming its commitments to what its design represents, as their website says their aim is to “spark curiosity and inspire
imagination in learners of all ages and abilities. La Nube is a space where imagination takes shape.“
And it has done just that through its civic duty to El Paso and in its bold, imaginative design. La Nube’s architecturally fostered youthful whimsy that provides space for children and families to explore, discover, and dream has won several awards
this year. La Nube STEAM Discovery Center won First Place in the Commercial Wall category and Third Place in the Commercial Roofs category of ATAS’ 2024 Project of the Year Awards for accomplishing its stunning architectural and civic vision.
The contributors to accomplishing this vision in addition to Snøhetta Architects are the installer, Commercial Roofing Systems, and distributor, ABC Supply Company. La Nube also won the Metal Roofing Category of Metal Architecture’s 2025
Design Awards for its imaginative, ambitious use of metal. The structure stands as model for how metal panels can contribute innovatively and creatively to architectural designs, helping foster dynamic visions and bring dreams to life.
Photography by Brian Wancho.