As our garden expansion continues to take shape and as our cultural landscape evolves, we are delighted to share with you a few of the many facets of this incredibly detailed project … so you can see true beauty in the making.
Just Imagine Our Gardens in 2024
With the realization of our sweeping reimagination of 17 acres of our Conservatory and grounds, opening in fall 2024—we are honored to enhance, steward, and preserve one of the world’s most important collections of gardens and glasshouses.
The Project Unfolds
Last week we began installing the 1,958 panes of glass that will make up the roof and sides of our new West Conservatory! To ensure the optimal light level for healthy plants, we are using a low-iron, ultra-flat laminated glass that reduces reflectance and increases the amount of full-spectrum light transmitted into the building. Most of the panes are unique in size and shape, with the largest being 4 feet by 20 feet. In all, the glasshouse will feature more than 424 operable windows in the roof and walls, and the vertical glass walls will have a dot-frit pattern to protect birds from the ultra-clear glass. We expect installation to be completed in late spring.
Doug Paul, the founder of The Kennett Collection—the finest and largest private collection of bonsai outside of Asia—has made a transformative gift and bequest to Longwood Gardens. The initial gift will include 50 bonsai over the next two years, as well as a yearly cash gift to support their maintenance. The bequest will gift 100 additional specimens—including kicho bonsai or Important Bonsai Masterpieces because of their beauty or rarity—and $1M for an endowment for the continued care of the collection, as well as additional acquisitions. The bequest will make Longwood the leading collection of bonsai trained in Japan on public view in the United States.
Six water tanks, measuring 60-feet-long and 8-feet in diameter, and each capable of holding 20,000 gallons, have arrived on site. The tanks are part of our sustainable rainwater capture system that will allow us to reuse collected rainwater from the roof of the new West Conservatory and Administration Building. Two of the tanks will hold collected rainwater, which is then treated, filtered, and stored in three of the remaining tanks for irrigation purposes; one tank will hold gray water. The six tanks will be buried on the south side of the West Conservatory.
Last week we began installing the more than 50 pre-cast panels for the façade of our new Restaurant and Event Space. One special panel includes a replica datestone reminiscent of the stone placed during the Conservatory’s original construction. For structural integrity, the original stone was deconstructed during the project’s concrete work, so we duplicated it by taking clay impressions, which were then converted into a 3D model used to cut the new form with a Computer Numerically Controlled mill. The 15,000-lb. panel was carefully moved into its place of honor, a reminder of the legacy we steward each day at Longwood.
Our West Conservatory display will include two types of citrus grown in the espalier style. Espalier is the art of controlling a woody plant’s growth by pruning and tying its branches to a frame, often for fruit production. The plants are frequently shaped in formal, two-dimensional patterns, making espalier not only decorative, but a wonderful option for gardens in which space is limited. We will be growing Fingered Citron, also called Buddha’s-hand (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis) and Fukushu kumquat (Fortunella obovata) in horizontal tiers, per the design intent.
At Heritage Olive Trees in Napa, California, we tagged the seven olive trees that will grace the central island in our new West Conservatory, which will feature a Mediterranean plant palette. We measured the root flare during the selection process so the trees will thrive in the 7- to 9-foot-wide display containers we envision. These 80-100-year-old trees will grow in ground until spring 2024, when they will be potted into boxes for the truck ride across the country, arriving at Longwood in May 2024.
Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi of WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism talk about their visionary design for the West Conservatory. While in the lower level of the West Conservatory, Marion likened this part of the structure to an engine that will help bring to fruition the glorious gardens and amazing experiences that guests will enjoy on the level above, which will soon begin to take shape.
A team from Longwood, Bancroft Construction Company, and Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects headed to sunny California in search of plants for our new West Conservatory. We were selecting the “mid-story” plants that will grace this exciting new garden. From a design perspective, “mid-story” plants help tie together the larger plants (trees) and the building structure with the lower-level plant material.
Today we began lifting into place around 123 tons of steel for our new Administration Building—the home for our library, state-of-the-art classrooms, and offices. Most of the major columns and beams in this two-story structure will be erected over the next 3–4 weeks. Thanks to RC Fabricators in nearby Wilmington, DE, who is providing the steel.
Work is underway to prepare for the installation of the footings, walls, and façade of our new Restaurant and Event Space. This image shows the walls of the concrete tunnel that will connect the new West Conservatory to the Restaurant. Meanwhile, rebar is being installed for the cast-in-place wall that will mark the back of the new space. That wall will extend the entire length of the Conservatory (439 feet).
Our beloved, historic Orchid House reopened on February 26, revealing stunning new floral displays within a hundred-year-old structure that has been thoroughly restored and revitalized. The completion of the Orchid House restoration marks the first milestone achieved in Longwood Reimagined, a sweeping yet deeply sensitive transformation of 17 acres of the Gardens’ central visitor area.
An allée of yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea), which produces clusters of fragrant white flowers, is planned for the front of our Main Conservatory. Here Longwood’s Troy Sellers evaluates specimens from Garden State Nursery in New Jersey.
Two types of native soil are being excavated and saved from the site—topsoil and subsoil. These two soil components are being moved to a mixing site on our property where they are being mixed, tested, and amended if needed to ensure it is the ideal composition for the meadow and naturalized areas of Longwood Reimagined.
The first section of the lower level floor of our new 32,000 sq. ft. West Conservatory takes shape. To prepare for the January 13 pour of 150 cubic yards of concrete, earth had to be excavated to grade, foundations poured, plumbing and electrical conduits installed, and reinforcing steel set.
Watch More Project Updates
We’re thrilled to share that over the course of the next two years and leading up to the opening of Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, The Kennett Collection—the finest and largest private collection of bonsai and bonsai-related objects outside of Asia—will give 50 bonsai to Longwood.
Visit the History and Artistry of Our Orchid House
A Look Back at 2021 Progress
Unveiling Big Bonsai News
Longwood Reimagined: The Project Continues
Growing From Afar
Navigating Our New Orchid House
