Yew Dell Botanical Gardens Visitor Center

The Yew Dell Botanical Gardens Visitor Center is a new 1, 842 s.f. facility for a property founded in 1943 by horticulturalist & nurseryman Theodore Klein. The historic property, recognized for its unique collection of themed structures and gardens, is part of the Garden Conservancy, a national organization dedicated to saving and preserving America’s exceptional gardens. Funded in its entirety by a private donor, the project entails the rehabilitation of an existing tobacco barn situated near the property entry. The program includes: Reception area with information & ticket sales, gift shop, plant sale area, group tour meeting zone, internet sales office, and storage. Several key challenges guided the project: 1) a modest construction budget of $64/s.f., 2) a tight 5-month design & construction completion schedule coinciding with a major public event, and 3) an ambitious program proposed for an existing structure with limited available space. Preserving the exterior iconic image of the tobacco barn structure, the new facility is designed as a ‘building-within-a-building’. For economy and energy efficiency, the project utilizes the shell of the existing barn as an independent shade structure, leaving it essentially unaltered with the exception of minor framing stabilization. Working with existing structural bay modules, new conditioned interior spaces are consolidated to one side of the barn interior while unconditioned spaces are designed as covered flexible-use areas. During low-humidity spring & fall seasons, frameless glass doors can be left open to merge both halves of the barn. Following state historic preservation guidelines, new construction is clearly differentiated from the existing structure through light-colored interior wood plank surfaces and material contrasts. The use of light - both natural & artificial - is a key design element that transforms the facility throughout the day, affecting the transparency and visibility of the various programmatic components while amplifying the rustic characteristics of the existing tobacco barn. Acting as either a mirror or a transparent boundary depending on the viewing angle, tempered glass walls reflect & refract sunlight, views, and outer barn walls, emphasizing a sense of spaciousness while allowing the original barn to visually register within interior spaces. During the evening, the facility becomes a glowing lantern within the gardens, with the outer barn shell expressed though interior light filtering through gaps between the wood siding. A conventional palette of materials, including milk-painted tongue & groove wood siding, tempered glass, and sealed concrete floors, is detailed with simplicity and precision.