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Architects: Lake|Flato Architects
- Area: 14000 ft²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Lara Swimmer
Text description provided by the architects. The Naples Botanical Garden Visitor Center, sits delicately upon a world class, 160-acre botanical garden. The vision for the gardens sought to preserve 160-acres of natural resources from conversion to urban development space. The visitor center continues a legacy of preservation by partnering with local ecosystem in an environmentally responsible way. Wooded pavilions crafted from local and durable sinker cypress entwine throughout lush gardens and plant collections to create an immersive and engaging experience for visitors and researchers as well as an enticing venue for events.
As visitors enter through an intimate walkway that meanders through plantlife, buildings are scaled as a back-drop to the larger landscape and the program is broken down into a series of smaller buildings so visitors will be continually engaged by the restored natural habitats. The visitor center has 14,000-square-feet of interior space for ticketing, retail, exhibit and cafe/dining with 16,000-square-feet of exterior areas. All circulation exterior with trellised gathering spaces, the center is immersed in restored natural habitats and Gardens with Latitude — lush vegetation from seven tropic regions weaves throughout the park demonstrating habitat diversity.
The garden’s spine, a corridor of aquatic plants, the River of Grass pays reverence to the Everglades — South Florida’s most dominant landscape feature — while it filters stormwater at the heart of the garden. Walkways thoughtfully terminate onto pavilions that overhang and float in lush fields of flora. Providing strong contextual place to the garden, a wood-paneled Prow above the cultivated greenery gives visitors views of Everglade palms below and distant glimpses of sawgrass wetlands beyond.
