Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn
A Project of the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Architecture Research Office

The redesign of the garden's southernmost entrance preserves the original Beaux Arts McKim, Mead & White arch, while reconfiguring the landscape with earthen berms to provide sound attenuation from the adjacent thoroughfares and incorporating a ticket office and a signature spring garden. The ticket office, which is oriented toward the forecourt, has façades of handcrafted brick, a clerestory window, a zinc standing-seam metal roof, and a welcoming, vivid green interior. Using a consistent design language, the new Terrace Café consolidates food preparation, storage, and counter service in a streamlined elliptical plan, all of which can be neatly enclosed at night with an integrated steel mesh curtain.

Design Team

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Michael Van Valkenburgh, President & CEO; Paul Seck, Associate Principal; Nik Elkovitch, Associate; Conners Ladner, Designer

Architecture Research Office
Stephen Cassell, Principal-in-Charge; Megumi Tamanaha, Associate; Mandy LeBoeuf, Project Manager; James Henry, Designer; Annie Barrett, Designer; David Sobol, Designer; John Barrett, Designer; Danielle Brown, Designer; Neil Patel, Designer; Gustavo Colmenares, Intern; Adam Stehura, Intern

Altieri Sebor Wieber
Michael A. Freliech, Principal; Michael Miracolo, Project Engineer; Kazi Karim, Project Engineer

James N. Davella Consulting
James Davella, President

Weidlinger Associates
James Quinn, Principal; Sandra Forero, Civil Project Engineer; Greg Kelly, Director of Sustainable Design; Peter Koklanos, Structural Engineer; Jennifer Lee, Civil Engineer; Matt Waxman, Structural Engineer

Tillotson Design Associates
Suzan Tillotson, President; Ellen Sears, Principal

Department of Cultural Affairs
Kate D. Levin, Commissioner; Margaret Morton, Deputy Commissioner; Andrew Burmeister, Assistant Commissioner for Capital Projects; David Bryant, Capital Project Manager & Design Commission Liaison

Department of Parks & Recreation
Adrian Benepe, Commissioner; Kevin Jeffrey, Brooklyn Borough Commissioner; Thérèse Braddick, Deputy Commissioner for Capital Projects; Jonna Carmona-Graf, Chief of Capital Program Management; Nancy Prince, Deputy Chief of Design; Kevin Quinn RA, Director of Architecture; Alex Hart, Assistant Deputy Chief of Design; Daniel Grulich, Interagency Coordinator; Kevin Forma, Interagency Coordinator; Amie Uhrynowski, Design Commission Liaison

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Scot Medbury, President; Mark Gasparini, Chief Financial Officer & Vice President of Finance; Melanie Sifton, Vice President of Horticulture; Tracey Faireland, Director of Capital Projects; Mark Fisher, Director of Horticulture; Rudy Rudloff, Director of Facilities