The Frederik Meijer Gardens Conservatory

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Architectural

Story

The largest glass-house conservatory in the State, the Frederik Meijer Gardens sits on a 70-acre site off the East Beltline in Grand Rapids that was once open farmland. Much of the land has been left in its natural state; barrier free nature trails provide access to surrounding land.

A 15,800 sqare foot conservatory has created a miniature tropical rainforest where plants from around the world grow in a controlled climate.

Size: Administration/Classrooms 22,400 s.f.
Conservatory 15,800 s.f.
Conservatory Support 12,660 s.f.
Basement/Mechanical 8,740 s.f.

Schedule: August 1993 - May 1995

Design Features:
- Five-story-high, glass-enclosed conservatory with a 14-foot cascading waterfall and 16,000 exotic plants.
- Concrete "trees", 22 feet high, weighing over 11 tons each, that support the roof over the gallery and lobby areas.
- A sophisticated computerized system for temperature and moisture control; automatically operates vents, shade curtains and a high-pressure mist system in the conservatory.

Construction Features:
- Parking area for 5 buses and 127 cars.
- Conservatory structural system is hot-dipped galvanized steel vertical and horizontal trusses, supporting and aluminum curtain wall with 1" clear insulated vertical glazing and 1/2" annealed sloped safety glazing.
- Exterior materials include dolomitic limestone and face brick.

Awards:

-Award of Excellence from the ABC of Western Michigan.

-1995 Most Distinguished Project Award from the American Galvanizers Asssociation.

This portion of the facility is currently being certified as LEED Existing Building by the United States Green Building Council.

Facts

  • Title: The frederik meijer gardens conservatory
  • Location: Grand rapids, michigan
  • Postal code: 49525
  • Phase: Complete
  • Budget: $8.7 million
  • Size: 59600.0


Project Identification Number:

PP-CST-9D41-A710-8BF0-4539-5


Status: Completed


Tags

  • entertainment
  • civicmunicipal
  • greenhouse
  • feature-projects
  • master-planning


Project Credits:


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