Royal Botanical Gardens Rock Garden – Visitors Centre

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is dedicated to preserving beautiful horticulture, while providing science and education to inspire and nurture society’s commitment to the environment. Located in the Greater Toronto Area, like other public gardens around the world, it is also embracing the changes needed to respond to the challenges of climate change.

As a result the RBG recently underwent a rejuvenation, which reflects its forward-facing approach. Salex collaborated with Hammerschlag & Joffe and CS&P Architects on the development of a state-of-the art facility to welcome visitors to the garden, who, thanks to new infrastructure, will be able to experience this much-loved garden in a new way. Axis Lighting’s BEAM 2 were chosen to illuminate the Visitors Centre, alongside wood beams, which complement the architectural design’s pattern that play on the ceiling like the veins of a leaf.

The Visitors Centre operates as the new main entrance for the RBG and houses a fully operational restaurant and conference facility that accommodates up to 130 people for weddings, corporate and private functions. The centre also features a look-out deck and patio that provides guests with an optimal view of the garden’s lower bowl.

Congratulations to Hammerschlag + Joffe, who won a 2017 Illumination Merit Award for the lighting design of this project!