American firms 180 Degrees and CoLab Studio have created an educational facility and a greenhouse in the Arizona desert with polycarbonate facades that bring soft daylight indoors.
The Hazel Hare Center for Plant Science is located within the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Local firms 180 Degrees and CoLab Studio worked with the garden to conceive a masterplan for the centre's 85,000-square-foot (7,897-square-metre) campus.
The Desert Botanical Garden is located in Phoenix, Arizona
"This horticulture campus is the heart of the Desert Botanical Garden, providing world-class facilities furthering the art and science of nurturing the garden's renowned plant collection," the team said.
Since the masterplan was approved, three buildings have been completed: Greenhouse West, the Marley Horticulture Learning Lab and the Ahearn Desert Conservation Laboratory. Future facilities include a headhouse and additional conservatories. The facility includes a large greenhouse
At 5,184 square feet (482 square metres), the West Greenhouse is the largest of the new structures. It contains space for growing various species of cacti, including rare specimens.
The steel-framed facility has white, polycarbonate cladding ? a material that brings diffused light into the growing space. The building is topped with a sawtooth roof and, above it, a broad, metal canopy with perforated aluminium louvres that move.
Sunset at the Desert Conservation Laboratory
At ground level are two metal cy...