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.