* Architecture: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center by Weiss/Manfredi Opens to the Public

Architecture: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center by Weiss/Manfredi Opens to the Public: “..Embedded into an existing hillside at the Garden’s northeast corner, the sinuous glass building appears as a seamless extension to the existing topography as it leads into the 52-acre garden. In addition, the $28-million Visitor Center incorporates numerous environmentally sustainable features—most notably a 10,000-square-foot living roof—that are aimed toward earning LEED Gold certification. The project has been recognized by the New York City Public Design Commission with an Award for Excellence in Design..The curved glass walls of the Visitor Center offer veiled views into the Garden, their fritted glass filtering light and deterring bird strikes. In contrast to the southern face of the building, the north side is built into a preexisting berm, which increases thermal efficiency. Its clerestory glazing—along with the fritted glass on the south walls— minimizes heat gain and maximizes natural illumination. A geoexchange system heats and cools the interior spaces, and a series of rain gardens collect and filter runoff to improve storm-water management..The leaf-shaped living roof hosts over 40,000 plants—grasses, spring bulbs, and perennial wildflowers—adding a new experimental landscape to the Garden’s collection..”  Sustainability, contextual and social sensibility, green roof..

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image: © Albert Vecerka/Esto; article: Rosenfield , Karissa . “Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center Opens to the Public” 17 May 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/235079&gt;

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