Building and Grounds
Erica's Original Notes: The Gardens were formally opened on August 10, 1975, by the major donor, with the Premier of the Province and the Mayor in attendance.
Many years of effort were spent by a small group of devoted and forward-looking citizens who wanted to turn part of an old golf course into a botanical garden. Finally, in 1971, the provincial government, the city, and a foundation signed an agreement to buy this land from the railroad for $3 million; it was then turned over to the Parks Board to develop and maintain. The buildings were designed by Herbert & Wilson, who designed the restaurant in the adjacent large city park. The buildings are constructed in a distinctly western mood and are divided into two parts. One part looks after the general needs of the public with a gift shop and restaurant. The other, joined by a covered walkway, is for educational purposes, consisting of a large hall, where displays and lectures take place, a library, classroom, offices and below a workshop and lounge for volunteers. The site itself is composed of 55-.5 acres, or 22 hectares, and is made up of mostly sandy loam to which large amounts of mulch and organic matter have been added over the years. While the site was being developed, a great amount of clam shells---there's a specimen in the curator's office---and other remnants of marine life were discovered, which indicates the site was well below sea level about 12,000 years ago. Three main criteria have been used in laying out the grounds: the first shows the relationship of different plants within the same family; the second shows geographical origin of plants, such as the plants from the Southern Hemisphere; and the third is aesthetic, so that the whole is pleasing and attractive. A Parks manager, Bill L., was responsible for the imaginative landscape. Roy F. is responsible for the design and arrangement of the plant collections since 1972, and, since the retirement of Bill in 1975, for the layout of the upper two-thirds of the garden. The Forest Centre, originally known as 'A Walk in the Forest', was designed with an informal theatre for audio-visual displays. It was opened in 1976, and closed in 1986. This was a much loved and used facility, and funds were finally found to reopen it, especially for education of school groups and guide training. |
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Updates 2013 (HM)
As of 2013, the buildings present at the original opening of the Garden in 1975 are still in use. They have been renovated and incorporated as much as is possible into the overall theme of sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity that the Garden wishes to promote.
The new 1,765 sq. m. (~19,000-sq.-ft.) Visitor Centre was designed by Perkins+Will. It was formally opened on October 23rd, 2011.
With its distinctive yew exterior door handles, interior ceiling of wavy rib-patterned Douglas-fir backed with black, mineral wool fabric, central oculus and stylish profile, this cutting-edge building has been specifically designed to raise the Garden's profile by making the entrance more visible to everyone travelling along the street in front. The orchid-inspired design for the roof’s shape creates a visual and ecological balance between the building and the landscape.
It was designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum level of excellence, which requires buildings to excel in terms of energy efficiency, overall environmental sensitivity and sustainability. The new Visitor Centre is also being registered for Living Building Challenge (LBC) status. LBC is an even more rigorous measurement of building sustainability and excellence than LEED, as it requires close monitoring and assessing of a building’s long-term performance in seven key areas: site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty for a full year before certification can be achieved.
This type of innovative, sustainable construction does not come cheap:
As of 2013, the buildings present at the original opening of the Garden in 1975 are still in use. They have been renovated and incorporated as much as is possible into the overall theme of sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity that the Garden wishes to promote.
The new 1,765 sq. m. (~19,000-sq.-ft.) Visitor Centre was designed by Perkins+Will. It was formally opened on October 23rd, 2011.
With its distinctive yew exterior door handles, interior ceiling of wavy rib-patterned Douglas-fir backed with black, mineral wool fabric, central oculus and stylish profile, this cutting-edge building has been specifically designed to raise the Garden's profile by making the entrance more visible to everyone travelling along the street in front. The orchid-inspired design for the roof’s shape creates a visual and ecological balance between the building and the landscape.
It was designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum level of excellence, which requires buildings to excel in terms of energy efficiency, overall environmental sensitivity and sustainability. The new Visitor Centre is also being registered for Living Building Challenge (LBC) status. LBC is an even more rigorous measurement of building sustainability and excellence than LEED, as it requires close monitoring and assessing of a building’s long-term performance in seven key areas: site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty for a full year before certification can be achieved.
This type of innovative, sustainable construction does not come cheap:
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Building Cost:
City: Government of Canada: Member Association: Province: Total: |
$8.3 million $6.9 million $4.7 million $2.0 million $21.9 million |
Besides being innovative, this is a functional, multi-purpose building. It has a number of different spaces, including three rental rooms which combine to form one great room; a library that will be the largest botanical library in Western Canada; a garden store; a discovery room with rotating exhibits; a dedicated classroom for some of the Garden’s many courses and workshops; a volunteer lounge for the more than 1,400 volunteers; and a cafe.
Special features include:
Special features include:
- A green roof to replace the green space on which the building now sits
- Systems for recovering “grey water” (water used for washing hands and dishes) and “black water” (toilet water) that will be cleaned and released into the garden.
- Environmentally responsible, non-toxic building materials. All materials used for construction have been rigorously researched for material health at all levels of their life cycle. All wood used in construction is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified.
- The undulating roof is made of glulam (glued laminated timber) with post-and-beam support.
- Re-use of salvaged material. Examples include the 'new' bridge from a former covered walkway and the large interior wooden doors recycled from Seattle, Washington.
- The surrounding landscape features native plants adapted to the local climate. The plant labels indicate the English, Latin and Musqueam (local First Nations) names.
- Net-zero and therefore 'carbon neutral' energy design meaning that the building uses only as much energy as it produces on an annual basis.
- Solar photovoltaic arrays that provide electricity and solar hot water tubes that produce domestic hot water as well as providing heat.
- A Geothermal energy collection system that uses deep boreholes and underground water storage to provide heating and cooling.
- An Oculus / Solar chimney that provides light, heat in winter and cooling in summer.