Austrian firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects has completed a botanical garden complex in Taiyuan, China, featuring three domed greenhouses positioned on or alongside an artificial lake.
The Taiyuan Botanical Garden occupies the site of a former coal mine in the Jinyuan district of Taiyuan in northern China, which the client wanted to transform into a landscaped park and museum.
Top image: DMAA has completed Taiyuan Botanical Garden. Above: it comprises three domed greenhouses
Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA) oversaw the development of the gardens, which included the creation of an artificial landscape featuring hills, lakes, waterfalls, paths and buildings.
The site's centrepiece is a cluster of three domed greenhouses that provide suitable climatic environments for growing plants from different regions. Walkways wind around the gardens and lake
Taiyuan Botanical Garden also encompasses an entrance building containing a nature museum and administration facility, along with a restaurant, a bonsai museum and a research centre with a library and staff accommodation.
The greenhouses are placed close to the entrance of the landscaped park and are connected by walkways that extend around the lake.
Each of the three domes was built using double-curved laminated timber beams arranged in two or three intersecting layers.
Wooden lattice roofs span the greenhouses
"The construction of the greenhouses required the pooling of technical know-how in the areas of ener...