Project Details
- Project Name
- Morris Arboretum, Out on a Limb
- Location
-
100 E. Northwestern Ave
PA
- Client/Owner
- Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
- Year Completed
- 2009
- Shared by
-
Communications Manager,Metcalfe Architecture & Design
- Consultants
-
Structural Engineer: CVM Engineering,Construction Manager: CVM Construction,Civil Engineer: Hunt Engineering Company,Lighting Designer: Grenald Waldron Associates
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
Metcalfe worked with Morris Arboretum to craft a unique treetop experience - a place to learn from nature. The exhibit extends along 450 feet of elevated pathways within the arboretum’s forest. Our design balances perceived danger, actual safety, beautiful materials, and real trees. A visitor favorite is the “Squirrel Scramble,” an open-net climb suspended 50 feet above the ground where visitors can play and lounge in the forest canopy.
“[Out on a Limb] makes you see the world in a new way... [Metcalfe applies] time-honored architectural tricks to enhance nature’s drama—opening up a wide vista here, compressing the focus over there, while frequently testing our fear of heights. The result is a space that exerts an irresistible allure, to young and old alike.”
-Inga Saffron, architecture critic, Philadelphia Inquirer
