Project Description
Architect Perkins + Will, along with lighting designer Total Lighting Solutions, engineered VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre to exceed LEED Platinum status. In conjunction, and an even greater accomplishment, the Visitor Centre is the first building to apply for the Living Building Challenge in Canada, achieving net-zero energy.
Devised to emulate the native orchid flower, the center of the circular atrium is a skylight oculus dramatically surrounded with horizontal wooden slats cascading down in the form of petals. Each organically-shaped doorway leads to a new building amenity. Whether gift shop, cafe, gallery or garden access, the gateways extending from the building core are accented by the B4 | arris4 indirect asymmetric providing indirect illumination onto the high curvature of the ceiling.