By Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer
Longwood Gardens, the 1,000-acre botanical garden and former du Pont estate that sprawls over meadows, woodlands, and rolling Chester County countryside in Kennett Square, has announced it is embarking on the largest makeover of grounds and buildings in its history, a $250 million project that will stretch through 2024 and transform the visitor experience.
The project, dubbed “Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience,” focuses on 17 acres at the heart of Longwood and involves, among other things, construction of a new West Conservatory near the popular East and Main Conservatories.
The new conservatory will consist of a 32,000-square-foot glass house rising in a series of asymmetrical peaks and seeming to float on a shimmering pool of water. The architect is Weiss/Manfredi, with gardens and pools designed by Reed Hilderbrand.
A Bonsai courtyard along the West Conservatory and a new restaurant and private event space are also part of the plan. Other elements include construction of a new education and administration building, renewal of the Waterlily Court, and preservation of six historic Lord & Burnham glass houses from the early 20th century, to be relocated at a later date and used for year-round garden displays.
The project will require demolition of the current West Conservatory and the Cascade Garden building. The Cascade Garden itself will be moved to a more central location in a new glass house of its own. The administration building next to the West Conservatory will be rebuilt from the foundation up.
A new West Conservatory — the glass-roofed building in the center of the rendering — is the centerpiece of Longwood Gardens’ construction and renovation project. WEISS/MANFRED
All structures are designed by Weiss/Manfredi, a New York firm perhaps best known for its design work for the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park and the Visitor Center at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In Philadelphia the firm’s work can be seen at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania.
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