The Destinations Issue of Landscape Architect and Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is one of several great projects we are excited to showcase on LandscapeArchitect.com.

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens project in Sarasota, Florida, began in 2017 to create a resilient future through stakeholder engagement and a bold vision. This involved collaborating with a team of designers led by landscape architects to draft a sustainable master plan for the 15-acre waterfront gardens.

The project tackled the inefficient use of the property, with about half of the site dedicated to informal gravel surface parking with no stormwater control. Additionally, the Gardens, known for their world-class research collections, stored valuable collections in inadequate buildings. The master plan reimagined the campus, focusing on sustainability and resiliency. The team developed a visionary plan centered around the Epiphyte Epicenter, with creative entitlements, innovative stormwater design, and extensive public engagement, resulting in a new Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (MSBG) zone district within Sarasota's land development code.

 
The project employed green infrastructure techniques, including bioswales, known as the Glades Gardens, and permeable clay pavers in the entry court, allowing storage of 135,000 gallons of rainwater. An integrated stormwater management system accommodates future phases, culminating in a 300,000-gallon innovative stormwater vault that treats stormwater before discharging it to Sarasota Bay.

Phase One includes the following elements:
- A four-level, 450-car parking structure clad in native vines called the Living Energy Access Facility (LEAF) with an integrated fine dining restaurant and a 1-megawatt solar panel array on the roof, resulting in the world's first net-positive energy certifications for Botanical Garden Complex and Restaurant from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). The LEAF also features a rooftop kitchen garden managed by local veterans seeking healing garden therapy and educational signage designed by landscape architects.

- A new 30,000-square-foot Plant Research Building (PRB) includes green walls, rooftop solar, and planters. The PRB houses all the garden's administrative functions, facilities and maintenance shops, a central energy plant, a research lab, a rare books library, and a preserved collections room. The building's interior also includes reclaimed mahogany wood from on-site milled trees.

- An open-air welcome center with biophilic design principles, including a central support column representing a tree trunk supporting the broader canopy roof above with dappled sunlight from custom skylights. Adjacent to the welcome center is a new 3,500 square-foot lily pond fountain that serves as a beautiful and transparent barrier to separate the public from paid access points of the botanical gardens.

- A new central organizing element for the gardens, the Palm Promenade, incorporates recycled early 1900s clay Augusta Block bricks into a spectacular pedestrian-only promenade, while educational signage shares a first-hand perspective of the area from nearly 100 years ago.

The project has elevated Sarasota's cultural assets as a world-class leader in forward-thinking design and implementation. It serves as a model of urban sustainable landscape architecture, showcasing innovative design and sustainability practices. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has garnered various local, national, and international awards, resulting in a resilient, community-enhancing institutional project.

To see more Destinations projects, go to: https://landscapearchitect.com/landscape-articles/lasns-destinations-issue-34869#article1

For more information about submitting a project, go to: https://landscapearchitect.com/research/editorial/editorial-submissions.php