Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden set in Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a City of Pittsburgh historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens were founded in 1893 by steel and real-estate magnate Henry Phipps Jr. as a gift to the City of Pittsburgh. Its purpose is to educate and entertain the people of Pittsburgh with formal gardens (Roman, English, etc.) and various species of exotic plants (palm trees, succulents, bonsai, orchids, etc.). Currently, the facilities house elaborate gardens within the fourteen room conservatory itself and on the adjoining grounds. In addition to its primary flora exhibits, the sophisticated glass and metalwork of the Lord & Burnham conservatory offers an interesting example of Victorian greenhouse architecture. Phipps is one of the "greenest" facilities in the world. The entrance pavilion of the Phipps Conservatory has silver-level LEED certification. Its greenhouse production facility has received Platinum certification, the first and only greenhouse to be so certified. Moreover, the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, designed to be as environmentally sustainable as possible, is also LEED Platinum certified, and produces all of its own energy.
History
The Phipps Conservatory was founded in 1893 as a gift from Henry Phipps Jr. to the City of Pittsburgh. The Conservatory was designed by Lord & Burnham, for a fee of $100,000. The glasshouse, then consisting of nine display rooms, was completed in August 1893, one year after construction began. On December 7, 1893, the Phipps Conservatory was opened to the public, displaying many plants from the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Sometime after 1910, the first of the Aquatic Gardens was built. A second pool would be installed in 1939. In 1970, the Conservatory was declared a Historic Landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. In 1976, the Phipps Conservatory was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1993, the Phipps Conservatory, which had been run by the City of Pittsburgh since 1893, became a privately managed, while city owned, non-profit organization. In October 2003, Phipps announced an expansion project. The first phase, a green engineered Welcome Center topped by a neo-Victorian dome, was designed by IKM Incorporated, and completed in 2005. The Production Greenhouses and a Tropical Forest Conservatory were completed in 2006.
The Tropical Forest conservatory has a different theme every three years, beginning with the country of Thailand. In addition to a "Research Forest Station" and a "Healer's Hut" (designed to educate visitors about various cultural topics), there are two waterfalls, several bridges, a stream, and a wide variety of plants from bamboo, orchids and frangipani to plants of economic, cultural, and horticultural value to the people of Thailand. The second theme is "Headwaters of the Amazon," which opened in early 2009. In 2007, Phipps teamed with glass artist Dale Chihuly and his Tacoma-based team of glass blowers. They worked together to create a marriage of hand-blown glass and living plants. Following the closing of the exhibit in February, the conservatory retained four prominent pieces (the Welcome Center chandelier, the hanging gold star in the Desert Room, the celadon and purple gilded Fiori in the Tropical Fruit and Spice Room and the bronze, apricot and chartreuse Ikebana in the Palm Court) and subsequently purchased 26 smaller pieces for its permanent collection including six multicolored Macchia (wavy, shell-like bowls), thirteen amber Cattails and seven Paintbrushes, all of which are installed in the Palm Court. The total Chihuly collection is valued at $1.2 million. In 2009, Phipps teamed with another glass artist Hans Godo Frabel to create another stunning exhibit titled "Gardens and Glass." Unlike the Chihuly pieces, Frabel's work is more realistic, although still whimsical at times. Highlights of this exhibit include Longfellows, intricate glass orchid and lotus plants and various clowns (balancing on either glass playing cards or colored glass balls.) This collaboration was on display until January 2010.
Indoor Gardens
Palm Court
The Palm Court is the first room visitors see after entering the Conservatory through the main entrance. The Victorian-inspired room contains many species of palm trees. The room contains the original dated plaque from the Conservatory's opening as well as numerous glass installations by Dale Chihuly. To accommodate the palm trees, the Palm Court has a high glass peak. The original wood and annealed glass in the Palm Court had deteriorated to a point for the need of emergency stabilization in 2008. Renovations began in 1992 and included replacing the upper wood and glass vent sash with aluminum and safety glass, and replacing the vertical wood and glass components with new replicated aluminum extrusions and safety glass glazing to match the original specifications exactly.
Serpentine Room
The Serpentine Room is located west of the Palm Court, connecting it to the Fern Room. The exhibits in the room change with the season for different shows and special exhibits. The room is named for its curved brick-walled pathway. Plants are lined along either side of the pathway, as well as suspended from the peaked ceiling. The room was originally known as the Border Garden, which was redesigned as the present-day Serpentine Room during an 18-month period of extensive renovations starting in 1978.
Fern Room
The Fern Room is located in the west wing at the intersection of the Serpentine Room, the Orchid Room, and the Stove Room. The room contains many ferns, as well as cycads and other ground plants on which ferns commonly grow. The dominant species in the room are representative of the Triassic, during which ferns and cycads were common as flowering plants would not evolve until millennia later. Some species include Munch's cycad, Eastern Cape cycad, Zululand cycad, Queen sago, Staghorn fern, Australian tree fern, Tasmanian tree fern, tongue fern, bear's paw fern, and rabbit foot's fern.
Orchid Room
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