Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Ayers Saint Gross was included on an invited list of nationally recognized firms to submit qualifications for architectural and design services. Ayers Saint Gross provided detailed descriptions of past experience, outlined specific team strengths, and articulated an engaged process needed to realize the vision of the project within the scheduled timeframe. Ayers Saint Gross was selected based on the strength of this statement of qualifications.

Entering a new era, the Missouri Botanical Garden, a global leader in plant science research and one of the oldest botanical gardens in continuous operation, needed a new gateway for their more than one million annual visitors. The Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center represents a bold, transformative vision for the Garden and its mission “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.”

Inspired by the Garden’s mission, the visitor center is designed to blur boundaries between indoors and outdoors, creating an immersive experience by incorporating elements of the natural world. The building integrates seamlessly into the Garden’s arrival sequence, serving as part of a series of thresholds through which the Garden reveals itself. Biophilic design elements, natural light, and materials reflecting the local landscape are woven throughout the project to educate visitors and reinforce their connection with the Garden.

The Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center includes a flexible auditorium and classrooms for community events and education, providing new spaces for visitors and garden staff to learn about plants while reinforcing the Garden’s reputation as an institution for scientific research and education. Amenities including a restaurant and café, a new gift shop, and an event center provide a welcoming atmosphere for the local community, while accessible guest services including barrier-free restrooms, family restrooms, and a calming room to ensure a comfortable visitor experience.

New outdoor amenities include north and south garden beds that emphasize plant diversity, a conservatory to showcase Mediterranean plant species, a new tram shelter, and outdoor dining.

Inspired by the Garden’s rich history and extensive botanical collection, the Visitor Center integrates seamlessly with its natural surroundings, blurring the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces to create a holistic visitor experience. This architectural approach not only reinforces the Garden’s mission but also ensures inclusivity and accessibility for all visitors.

Constructed using robust materials such as granite, zinc, and locally sourced Missouri limestone, the visitor center establishes a harmonious dialogue with its historic gardens while offering durability and aesthetic continuity. The architectural composition features a solid north facade and a transparent south facade, a nod to traditional greenhouse structures, optimizing natural lighting and framing expansive garden views upon entry. The lobby axis is centered on garden paths and fountains, providing an immediate sense of place. Biophilic design principles are woven throughout, exemplified by the main lantern feature with a custom-designed scrim that filters sunlight, evoking the feeling of entering a clearing in the forest. Illuminated at night, the glow of the lantern welcomes visitors and the community.

Custom terrazzo flooring integrates local river rock and brass accents, echoing the native Missouri woodland. The ticketing and visitor engagement desk forms are influenced and inspired by the shape of rounded rocks and pebbles, complemented by pendant lights reminiscent of rain drops. Walls dividing the dining areas and café include pressed botanical specimens from the Garden’s collection, while the overhead lighting mimics the form of flora in full bloom. The dining area includes a custom bench and community table made from the trunk of a Shumard Oak Tree that was previously part of the Garden’s living collection.

The previous Ridgway Visitor Center posed accessibility and path-of-travel challenges with an entrance that was nine feet below the grade of the garden, requiring visitors to travel up and through the building before experiencing the garden. The new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center reimagines the visitor arrival sequence by elevating the entry, leading visitors up a series of sloped paths, flanked by planting beds, to the building entry. Once in the building, the garden is instantly revealed through the transparent glass lobby volume, connecting the visitor with nature and instilling an immediate sense of place. To emphasize accessibility, the entrance garden includes local limestone benches and generous terraces where visitors can linger and enjoy the plant collection.

The site also contributes to the sustainability of the LEED Gold project, with 31 percent of the project site dedicated to vegetated landscape. Multiple new planting beds are incorporated, including a world-woodland garden that emphasizes plant diversity, aesthetic harmony, and clear orientation for the visitor. These gardens function as living laboratories for more than 46,000 plants representing over 300 species from around the world, including many that are endangered.

The site incorporates cisterns that efficiently capture rainwater, which is then used for irrigation. This proactive approach not only supports thriving plant life but also alleviates pressure on municipal water infrastructure, aligning with one of the Garden's tenets of environmental responsibility.

Native and adapted plantings, coupled with high-efficiency irrigation systems, reduces outdoor water demand 75% compared to baseline. Inside the building, low flow plumbing fixtures reduce indoor water use 33% compared to baseline. Moreover, the site manages 80,680 cubic feet of water and manages the 90% storm event on site.

In envisioning the new visitor center for a cherished St. Louis institution, our team meticulously considered the diverse needs of the community. The design integrates principles of Universal Design, ensuring that every aspect is accessible to all. This includes universally accessible restrooms, accessible transaction desks, sensory-friendly lighting, incorporated assisted listening devices, a calming room, and private area for adult-care changing. Furthermore, the visitor center itself provides new resources for the local community, including a publicly accessible north garden, an event center for community gatherings, and versatile classrooms and auditorium tailored for both learning initiatives and events.

A significant departure from its predecessor, the new visitor center now sits elevated to harmonize seamlessly with the garden, consolidating all visitor amenities on a single accessible level. This elevation not only enhances accessibility but also fosters a direct connection between the building and the surrounding garden environment.

The project encourages active transportation by providing 24 bicycle parking spaces for visitors, as well as six bicycle parking spaces to serve staff, and an on-site shower and changing room facility.

As part of our mission to “engage people and places to create designs that enrich the world,” Ayers Saint Gross works with mission-driven clients to create places for shared knowledge and culture. Our work is driven by a respect for past wisdom, a mind to future potential, and an obligation to leave places better than we found them.

Our team was inspired by the Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission and viewed this as an aspirational project for our growing cultural practice area. We enjoyed the opportunity to create an immersive environment that could inspire and educate the Garden’s visitors while supporting the institution’s overall research work. We view this project’s success as a testament to our ability to design projects of significant cultural value, and we aim to build on its success to continue to pursue and win more projects of this kind. 

Email interview conducted by John Hill.