Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Botanical Garden
Three parts to a new visitor experience.
GUND’s extensive expansion and renovation plan began with the reconfiguration of building systems and amenities of the original 1960s-era Garden Center and the creation of a new front door into the natural world. There are three recognizable elements to the project: a reconfigured administration building, a new visitor center and a distinct immersion glasshouse. Each is articulated in a distinct palette of materials.
A living classroom.
The unique shape of the glasshouse is generated from geometric forms of quartz crystal for the specific elements of the program. A variety of native plant and animal life provides a living classroom and an important educational component for the Gardens. The glasshouse is separated into two distinct biomes representing the butterfly-filled rainforest of Costa Rica and the desert geology of Madagascar.
A modern design using traditional methods.
Looking to traditional conservatory design methods, the light structure of the glasshouse utilizes lapped glass, rather than a heavy curtainwall system employed in most contemporary glasshouses. Its structure is a series of quadrilateral and triangular planes creating its unique shape.
Let's aim for
extraordinary
together