New York Botanical Gardens

Crittall Windows has been involved in a multi-million dollar project at the New York Botanical Garden. The Garden occupies 250 acres of land in the heart of New York, and a major expansion of the facilities is underway. The new Leon Levy Visitor Center is one of the most dramatic additions. It comprises four separate structures forming an elegant and functional transition from the urban sophistication of the cityscape to the pastoral environment of the Garden.

Designed by the architect, Hugh Hardy, founding principal of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, with Gabriel Hernandez, project architect and project designer, the Center was opened in May 2004, and occupies a three-and-a-half acre site at the main Conservatory Gate entrances. Steel stone and glass enhance the architectural style of the building, which consolidates the Garden’s existing visitor service, whilst expanding its amenities. The Center includes a Shop in the Garden, with both indoor and outdoor components, a new café, an outdoor plaza and a visitor orientation area.

The Center is surrounded by a U-shaped formation of hills and trees.

The buildings are constructed of dark Hamilton bluestone, supplemented with wood, steel and glass. Crittall supplied its Corporate 2000 profiles to meet the architect’s specification, as well as cold-formed doors. The Corporate 2000 range offers the dual benefits of strength and aesthetic appeal, with the appearance of the profiles minimizing the intrusion of mullions and transoms without detracting from the original, traditional; appearance of the surrounding architecture. This emphasis on transparency is a key and prominent feature in the building’s external appearance, with large sections of the buildings enclosed in glass, framing views of the surrounding landscape, and its canopy of conifers.
“The crisp profiles and simple joinery of the Botanical Garden’s steel windows add immeasurably to the pavilions’ generous views of the rolling landscape,” says Hugh Hardy of the architectural practice.

The Leon Levy Visitor Center is part of a $200 million master plan for capital improvements to the 112 year old garden, which began in 1997 with the opening of the Enid A Haupt Conservatory, the country’s largest Victorian-style glasshouse. Subsequent phases include the Nolen Glasshouse for Living Collections, which will be the largest behind-the-scenes glasshouse for growing plants at any botanical garden in the USA.