Longwood Gardens

Pennsylvania, USA

Longwood Gardens were created by the industrialist and philanthropist, Pierre S. du Pont in 1906. Today, Longwood covers 1,050 acres including woodlands and meadows, 20 outdoor gardens and 20 indoor garden rooms inside a four-acre conservatory complex, with nearly one million visitors each year.

Longwood invited Kim to design a new square and performance area in front of the new East Conservatory. Sweeping grass terraces emerge from a sculpted landform and open southwards to the gardens and entrance. Domed top-lit lavatory cabinets are hidden within the land form. These cabinets open off a glass-roofed spine through walls of ferns and orchids. The entire project is based on the capture and reuse of rain water. The design was worked up with local project Landscape Architects Wells Appel.