The exterior of the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center at dusk

Location

St. Louis, MO

Size

94,000 GSF

Sustainability

LEED Gold

Services

Architecture, Graphic Design, Interiors

Completion

2023

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a global leader in plant science research and the nation’s oldest botanical garden in continuous operation. Entering a new era, the Garden engaged Ayers Saint Gross to design an iconic visitor center as the primary gateway for more than one million annual visitors. The state-of-the-art 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 history of the Garden and its extensive plant collection, the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center blurs boundaries between indoors and outdoors, creating an immersive experience by incorporating elements of the natural world. The visitor center integrates seamlessly into the Garden’s arrival sequence, serving as part of a series of thresholds through which the Garden reveals itself.

Upon arrival, visitors pass through the historical stone garden wall into the new north garden thoughtfully designed by Michael Vergason Landscape Architects. Designed for accessibility, the garden includes gently sloping paths and generous terraces where visitors can linger and rest. Durable materials including granite, bronze, and Missouri-native limestone convey the longevity and significance of the institution and strengthen the relationship between the new gardens and their historic counterparts.

Dappled sunlight shines through the lobby lantern at the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center

The building’s solid north façade and the transparent south façade mimic traditional greenhouse design. Once inside, visitors are immersed in natural light as they take in views of the extensive gardens beyond. The lobby axis is centered on garden paths and fountains, providing an immediate sense of place.

The visitor center’s main lantern feature includes a custom-designed scrim perforated in a pattern inspired by tree canopies. By filtering dappled light into the lobby, the lantern evokes the feeling of entering a clearing in the woods. At night, the glow of the lantern welcomes visitors and the community.

Indoor view of the lobby lantern at the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center

Lobby view of the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center

Dappled sunlight shines through the lantern scrim at the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center

The Gingko-inspired scrim at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Custom terrazzo flooring reflects the local landscape with inlays of local river rock and brass accents representing the native Missouri woodland that appear as fallen leaves. The ticketing and visitor engagement desk forms are influenced and inspired by the shape of rounded rocks and pebbles, while pendant lights above provide a luminescent sparkle calling to mind fireflies, stars, and droplets of rain.

Lobby furniture in the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center draws inspiration from natural forms.

Lobby flooring at the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center includes hand-lain terrazzo with local river...

The furniture at the Missouri Botanical Garden draws inspiration from natural forms.

Visitor amenities include a flexible auditorium and classrooms, the Sassafras Restaurant and Cafe, the Bayer Event Center, and a new Garden Gate Shop. Accessible guest services include barrier-free restrooms, family restrooms, and a calming room.

The information desk at the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center draws inspiration from river rocks.

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, designed with local architectural partners, Tao + Lee, 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.

A bench made from an old oak tree inside Sassafrass Restaurant at the Missouri Botanical Garden

A ceiling depicts roses in full bloom at the Sassafrass Restaurant at the Missouri Botanical Garden

The world-woodland garden that surrounds the center emphasizes plant diversity, visual cohesion, and clear orientation for the visitor. Together, the new gardens surrounding the center serve as living libraries of more than 46,000 plants representing over 300 species from around the world, including many that are endangered.

A person enters the main Garden through the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center.

The Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center is designed to help visitors pause and reflect on the scale and importance of the work being done at the Garden — including the thousands of species housed, discovered, and named there — and the impact the institution has in the community and worldwide.

For more information, please read an article entitled Biophilic Design: Infusing Nature into the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center.

The exterior of the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center connects with the main garden axis.

The front entrance of the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Ayers Saint Gross has been a collaborative partner throughout the project, balancing the needs of different Garden interests and stakeholders. They have been responsive, clear communicators and very easy to engage. I have found that they are able to assess an issue, develop creative and thoughtful solutions and work through the details to ensure success.

– Bob Woodruff, Missouri Botanical Garden Chief Operating Officer