Longwood Reimagined

Longwood Gardens, America’s greatest center for horticultural display, will unveil Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience to the public on November 22, 2024, celebrating the final stage of the most ambitious revitalization in the Garden’s 100-year history. Led by the acclaimed architecture practice WEISS/MANFREDI in collaboration with eminent landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand, Longwood Reimagined expands the public spaces of the renowned central grounds adding new buildings and new landscapes across 17 acres.

A GLASSHOUSE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
In keeping with Longwood’s tradition of blending fountain gardens and horticultural display, the centerpiece and largest single element of Longwood Reimagined is a new 32,000-square-foot glasshouse, designed by WEISS/MANFREDI. Inside is an immersive Mediterranean Garden featuring planted islands, pools, canals, and low fountains, designed by Reed Hilderbrand. The new West Conservatory with its asymmetrical, crystalline peaks appears to float on a pool of water, while inside, a unique garden under glass evokes the character of the Mediterranean, where both wild landscapes and cultivated gardens express an inseparable relationship between water, stone, and plants.

Building on the great 19th-century tradition of glasshouses through new sustainable technologies, the West Conservatory is a living, breathing building. Prioritizing sustainability, 128 geothermal wells have been drilled approximately 315 feet deep and are connected to a ground-source, multi-stage heat exchanger that provides heating and cooling to the lower level of the new conservatory, administration building, and the lower reception suite. The main level of the West Conservatory relies on year-round passive tempering of fresh air provided by 10 earth ducts, which are 300-foot long, three-foot diameter tubes, buried under the south slope of the gardens. As fresh air is drawn through the earth ducts, it is warmed or cooled by the earth depending on the season. The earth-tempered air is introduced to the space at the pedestrian pathway to provide passive thermal comfort for occupants and visitors. This innovative design means that the building increases the effectiveness of natural ventilation and reduces the dependence on mechanical cooling in hot weather and supplemental heating in cold weather.

A MEDITERRANEAN TAPESTRY
Inspired by the gardens and landscapes of the six global Mediterranean ecozones (the Mediterranean Basin, South Africa's Cape Region, coastal California, Central Chile, and Southwestern and South Australia), the West Conservatory garden incorporates three planted islands set on an expansive sheet of water. Cast stone paths and bridges hover above the plane of the garden and lead to brick terraces for gathering and pausing. Together these features draw guests through a rich juxtaposition of plants, stone, quiet water, and animated fountains that evoke characteristics of the Mediterranean landscape while alternating experiences of intimacy and openness.

A LOVING PRESERVATION OF BURLE MARX’S ONLY EXTANT NORTH AMERICAN DESIGN
The relocation, preservation, and reconstruction of the Cascade Garden, designed by celebrated Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) and first opened in 1992, is another key element of Longwood Reimagined. The Cascade Garden is Burle Marx’s only surviving design in North America and significantly showcases all of the signature elements of his design expression. This is the first time that a historic garden has been relocated as a whole and now occupies a more prominent position in the Longwood experience.

A new 3,800 square foot, WEISS/MANFREDI-designed glasshouse has been created for the garden, which was formerly installed in a retrofitted space in the Main Conservatory. The new, bespoke space recreates exactingly the vertical rock walls, cascading waterfalls, and clear pools designed by Burle Marx. They form the framework for a dense ensemble of plants found in a tropical rainforest, including palms, bromeliads, philodendrons, and more. The new glasshouse also features updated mechanical systems to improve climate control and sustainability. Adjustments to the garden path were meticulously calibrated to meet accessibility standards without compromising the garden’s design, resulting in a more inclusive and now-ADA-compliant experience. A new courtyard entrance includes an arcing path to the garden’s upper entrance through a grove of magnolias.

AN OUTDOOR GALLERY FOR BONSAI
Longwood is home to one of the best assemblages of bonsai in the nation, with a few specimens in training for more than 110 years. This growing collection is receiving a new, dedicated space as part of the Longwood Reimagined transformation. Designed by Reed Hilderbrand, the Bonsai Courtyard is a 12,500 square-foot outdoor gallery for the display and interpretation of this distinguished collection. The design employs a series of clipped hornbeam hedges to define the space and to develop rooms within it to display bonsai for contemplative viewing. Yakisugi (charred wood) walls, carefully proportioned cypress pedestals and cast stone panels offer multiple ways to curate the collection, displaying dozens of bonsai and highlighting their forms, foliage, and seasonal bloom.

NEW LANDSCAPES ENRICH VISITOR EXPERIENCE
The 17 acres of Longwood Reimagined also enrich the relationships between the Conservatories, new and old, and the wider landscape beyond, elevating the visitor experience throughout. In the character of Longwood’s historic landscape, trees provide the armature for moving to and among these new destinations in a variety of ways.

The Central Grove
This new grove lies between the Main Conservatory and the West Conservatory, featuring an allée of ginkgo trees and understory of Lenten Rose and Christmas fern. Guests stroll this inviting space to access the Cascade Garden, the Bonsai Courtyard, and the Waterlily Court.

The Waterlily Court and Arcade
The revitalized Waterlily Court, first opened in 1957 and renovated in 1989 by Sir Peter Shepheard, is now restored and framed by a new arcade designed by WEISS/MANFREDI, bringing renewed focus to this unique collection. This central haven brings together the collection of tropical gardens including the Orchid House, Waterlily Court and Cascade Garden, bridging both the historic and contemporary gardens.

Conservatory Overlook
A new Conservatory Overlook opened in May 2024 offers sweeping views of the Main Fountain Garden and its summer fountain shows from the broad stone step seating. A 700-foot-long promenade follows an allée of Yellowwood and Elm trees that stretch along the ridge, leading guests to the West Conservatory Plaza, where century-old London plane trees frame views of the iconic Brandywine Valley landscape.

Orchid House
In February 2022, Longwood reopened its beloved, historic Orchid House, revealing stunning new floral displays within a hundred-year-old structure that has been thoroughly restored. Returned to its original configuration, a gracious new vestibule welcomes visitors and keeps temperatures steady while seamlessly integrating into the Main Conservatory. The Orchid House now exhibits 50 percent more orchids throughout the year from Longwood’s collection, which is recognized as one of the most important in the world.

A NEW HOME FOR THE 1906 RESTAURANT
Longwood’s popular fine-dining restaurant, 1906, has a new, larger space hidden in plain sight that will elevate Longwood’s offerings in culinary arts to the same level of excellence as its horticultural displays. WEISS/MANFREDI has created a gracious new space by carving behind the historic Main Conservatory’s original retaining wall, creating a vaulted space with generous windows looking out on the iconic Main Fountain Garden. Antique Bronze vaulted mirrors on the opposite side of the room ensure that all guests enjoy views of the Garden wherever they are seated. Outside, a 500-foot-long flowering herb garden attracts pollinators and celebrates the culinary program of the 1906 restaurant and event space beyond.