Project Details
- Project Name
- Waterfront Botanical Gardens
- Location
- Kentucky
- Project Types
- Cultural
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
A notorious dump and landfill in Louisville, Kentucky has been transformed into the new Waterfront Botanical Gardens: a verdant 23.5-acre site sitting atop a hill overlooking downtown. Perkins and Will designed the gardens’ master plan, and the newly-opened Graeser Family Education Center and outdoor plaza. The gardens are a five-minute drive from downtown Louisville or a 30-minute walk through the Louisville Waterfront Park, providing residents and visitors multiple convenient ways to access.
At the center of the garden complex is the 6,000-square-foot Graeser Family Education Center: the wood-and-glass, sustainably-designed structure takes on an organic form, snaking its way along the plaza, providing a sculptural presence as the initial building of the overall botanical garden project. The long spans of the horizontal wooden structure are supported by a continuous ribbon-like ring beam that sits on 99 pine columns alternating with glass walls around the perimeter.
The geothermally-heated center is nestled among native plants with easy access to the outdoor plaza with its edible gardens, native gardens, and pollinator gardens - bright red and orange-yellow ornamental peppers, spikey-pink cockscomb, orange lantana, blue asters, red-purple mustard and rust-tinged sedge. Across the plaza sits a stunning transparent water wall – a standout feature in the first garden phase and through which you can see downtown Louisville.
Project Credits:
Project: Waterfront Botanical Gardens
Architects: Perkins and Will. Ralph Johnson, Zan Stewart, Bryan Schabel, Matthew Kuhl, Luke Murphree, John Perrine, Danny Mui, Lara Zakhem, Adam Lund, Jeff Sanner, Joe Stypka, Julie Michiels, Mark Walsh, Rocco Tunzi, Lauren Fraley, Allen Pratt, Micah Lipscomb, Leo Alvarez (design team)
M/E/P Engineers CMTA Consulting Engineers
Civil Engineer: Sabak, Wilson and Lingo, Inc
Structural Engineer: Structural Services Inc.
Structural Wood/Glulam Consultant: Structural Wood Systems
