Photohunters: Education

The first sign of the new visitor education center at the NC Botanical Garden, which is part of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, was basically a big mess.

Then I saw a literal sign showing what was being planned and built to house garden education classes, visitor information, etc.

That helped me, somewhat, to tolerate the mess that was a part of the garden for the years of construction on the new education building.

I always liked the Totten Center which is the old garden Education building but the new one is much larger.

The shot above and the two below are of the old education building at the garden (Totten Building).

Since the new Education Building has been completed, the Totten building is no longer opened for public use but is used for plant propagation and other purposes.

The rest of the shots are of the new Visitor and Education building at the garden. First are several shots I took a month before it was officially open.

This 29,656 square foot building has 3 sections connected by breezeways.

It has a number of green features including rainwater cisterns, geothermal wells, photovoltaic panels, storm water retention ponds, clerestory windows, and the site was selected for a variety of environmental reasons.

To learn more about the new Education Center you can click here. The rest of the shots were ones I took in the early spring of 2010 about six months after the education building opened.

I will be interested in seeing how far along they are in terms of the garden around the building by this summer.

Part of what I like about the original education building is how it was nestled into the garden but I realize that will happen over time with the new education building.

Click for the home of photohunters to see what others did for the education theme.