American architecture studio Olin & Overland has completed the world’s first net positive energy botanical garden in Florida, powered by 2,158 rooftop solar panels.
The project is part of a three-year master plan led by Philadelphia-based landscape architecture studio Olin to expand the 15-acre Sarasota campus of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, a facility dedicated to the research and education of air plants and native plant species.
The first phase of the master plan, completed earlier this year, included the addition of three new buildings to the campus, as well as infrastructure updates such as “an extensive stormwater management system, recreational trails and improvements to surrounding roads.”
The new 188,030 square foot (17,468 square meters) building was designed by Texas architectural firm Overland Partners and will house a multi-purpose parking garage, research center, and ticket office clustered at one end of the site.
The Morganroth Family Living Energy Access Facility (LEAF) is the largest of the three buildings and is a four-story parking garage with a restaurant and gift shop on the ground floor. Rooftop solar panels will be the campus’s primary energy source.
The Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center (Research Center) and the Jean Goldstein Welcome Center (Welcome Center) are located across from LEAF and are connected by a curved pavilion roof that covers the ticket counter.
The team says the 57,000 square feet of solar panels will be divided between LEAF and an adjacent research center and will produce 1.27 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
As of late June, the solar panels were powered up and a one-year monitoring period to track whether the project is producing more electricity than it consumes has officially begun ahead of the Living Building and Living Community Petal Certification to be awarded by the International Living Future Institute.
According to the team, the garden is expected to exceed the campus’s entire energy needs by 10%, making it the world’s first net-positive botanical garden.
“The state-of-the-art Reef, with its parking garage, garden-to-plate restaurant, new gift shop, vertical gardens and approximately 50,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels, will make Selby Gardens the world’s first net positive energy botanical garden complex,” Marie Selby Botanical Gardens said.
The campus will also feature “the world’s first net positive energy restaurant,” which will use electricity and induction cooking technology, housed within a ground-floor space attached to the side of the LEAF.
The facility will run entirely on solar power, and the rooftop garden will be maintained by veterans nonprofit Operation EcoVets, which will use it to source ingredients for the restaurant below.
There is also a rooftop garden above the adjacent research centre, which is centred around a two-story lobby and contains laboratories, a research library, meeting rooms and offices.
The Welcome Center’s curved roof, supported by steel trusses and clad in timber, stretches from the side entrance all the way up to the Research Center.
It covers the campus’ ticket counter, exhibition space and a small separate room housing the theatre.
In total, the project is expected to offset 975 tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by 1,000 acres of U.S. forest, according to the team.
“Marie Selby Botanic Gardens’ new facility is a testament to sustainable and regenerative architecture and will set a benchmark for botanic gardens around the world,” said John Bird, vice president of Overland Partners.
“This landmark project will elevate not only Selby Gardens, but Sarasota itself beyond a premier beach resort into a symbol of leadership in sustainable design around the world.”
The second phase of the master plan envisages additional infrastructure improvements to the campus, including a greenhouse facility, learning pavilion and “strengthened seawalls” around the site.
Elsewhere in Florida, Grabovic Studio has created a red aluminum walkway that connects local residents to the Everglades, and Renzo Piano Building Workshop has unveiled designs for a cultural center in Boca Raton.
Photos courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens unless otherwise noted.
Project credits:
Master Plan and Landscape Architect: Olin
Building Architectt: Land
civil engineer: Kimley Horn
Construction Manager: Willis Smith
Solar power infrastructure: One 80 Solar