Missouri Botanical Garden Jack C. Taylor Visitors Center
St. Louis, Mo.
Best cultural/cult
Region: Hell Half west
Sent by: IMEG
Owner: Missouri Botanical Garden
Architect: Tao + Lee Associates
Lead design company: Ayers Saint Brut
General contractor: Aubrey
MEP Engineer: IMEG
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Landscape architect: Michael Vergason Landscape Architects
The protection of delicate plants and trees around the world was one of the challenges of building the Jack C. Taylor visitors at the Botanical Missouri Garden in Sant Lluís.
The installation of 91,700 feet certified by Leed has 50 feet walls in its lobby and houses a center of events, meeting spaces, restaurant with views of the garden, auditorium and conservatory. The project, which replaces the previous visiting center of the 1980’s, was created to respond to the increasing number of visitors, which went from 250,000 in 1982 to more than one million in 2018.
The project involved the renovation of the Linnean historic house of 2,100 square meters, dating to 1882 and is the oldest public greenhouse that continually operates west of the Mississippi River.
Casey Dunn photo
“It was harder to work around trees and plants than the historic building,” says Phillip Lee, vice president of Alberici’s operations.
The team built radius protection areas from 25 feet to 30 feet around the trees, including precious Gingko trees in the garden and reduced project teams to protect the soil.
Garden officials “were very forceful with the size of our team,” says Lee. “It was about bringing the smallest skid we could, so we didn’t compact the soil as we went.”
The new visiting center has 50 -foot walls in the lobby, and an open -air dining area and dining area.
Casey Dunn photo
To keep the garden operating during the three years of construction, the team built a temporary visiting center with bathroom, gift shop and cafeteria. “They could have a physical building, a conditioned space where people could bring during the winter and summer and do business as usual,” says Austin Davis, responsible for the Alberici project.
Davis is proud of the project. “I think it is really rewarding to know that it is something that thousands of people will visit every day and know that I had a small part in this is really orderly,” he says.
