Gateways going green at the Garden and on the Chattahoochee by Catherine Fox

Art & Design

Gateways going green at the Garden and on the Chattahoochee

By Catherine Fox | Jul 19, 2009

The recent openings of the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Hardin Visitor Center and the Chattahoochee Nature Center’s Discovery Center make it a boom year for nature-center architecture.

The pair make an interesting case study in architectural imperatives. Both serve as gateways to their respective institutions. Both are designed as demonstrations of best practices in green architecture. Yet, as detailed in a story scheduled for July 26 in the AJC, the differences in site, budget, materials and architects (Jova/Daniels/Busby for the former, Lord, Aeck & Sargent for the latter) make for very different solutions.

Lord, Aeck & Sargent use vertical and horizontal battens to create texture on the facade of the Discovery Center.

J/D/B’s design for the Hardin Visitor Center is elegant but welcoming.

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Art & Design