BOTANICAL GARDEN, San Diego, CA
Design Director (Concept Design) with Gensler
Study for a net-zero-energy educational facility dedicated to the sustainable landscape program and nestled in the historic Botanic Garden on a private college campus. All existing buildings will be removed but most trees will remain, so the challenge was to create a state-of-the-art classroom cluster, labs, event hall, and greenhouses, knitted into the existing pattern of historic specimen trees. The project-winning strategy was to organize the new structures axially around a large Southern Live Oak as the project’s centerpiece, creating a visually cloistered oasis at the garden’s heart. The central lawn gradually spills westward from the main Hall to the Live Oak, with covered walkways terracing the perimeter. Spaces are organized around varying degrees of desirability of light. The aquaponics program can be used to create a closed-loop water system in this drought-prone climate.