AWARDS
AGC Outstanding Project of the Year
San Antonio Botanical Garden
Lucille Halsell Conservatory
This project is essentially a “Plant Museum” designed by internationally famous, New York Architect, Emilio Ambasz. Multi-purpose buildings included Entry Pavilion, Changing Exhibition Hall, Orangerie, Fern Room, Palm House, Desert Room, Tropical Room, Pools, Patios, and Gardens. Unique
The buildings are characterized by a roof of glass separated by aluminum space frames in the shapes of pyramids, ¾ conical sections, and flat circles. The triangular columns, which intersect the curvilinear space frames and the curved sloped soffit and retaining walls, define the concrete work. The complicated roof structures required over 1,100 different sized pieces of glass. These glass pieces were installed as four-sided, butt-glazed, units (one of the first in San Antonio).
The Fern Room is a cave- like limestone structure with features simulated rock formations duplicated from San Antonio Zoo Quarry walls. The Fern Room features a waterfall and pond.
“The real miracle of the Halsell Conservatory is simply that it exists! … JonesKell, Inc., the local Associate Architects, and Guido Brothers Construction Company, the local Contractors who so expertly executed Ambasz’s vision, also deserve praise for their ability to execute this award winning structure…. Like the Pazzi Chapel in Florence, it is a relatively small thing that achieves greatness rather than a great thing that perpetuates mediocrity. The Halsell Conservatory is a powerful symbol of a city’s imagination and generosity of spirit.”
— Texas Monthly, March 1988
The Palm House structure, the largest, had a unique fresh air intake system and utilized the concrete ramp as underground duct to deliver fresh oxygen to the “tenant” palm trees. Because plants are living things, the “buildings” needed to be finished with operable windows (high and low) for ventilation. The plants also required a misting system and sun shocking mechanism to aide in the successful growing of plants. The Arctic Rooms feature a refrigerated viewing room for the small plants that are hearty enough to exist in the near freezing, alpine climate temperatures.