Seattle Center

Situated on the Sacred Seeds Ethnobotanical trail that connects the campus to the surrounding forest and landscape, this schematic proposal incorporates standard greenhouse systems with passive systems to develop a state of the art teaching greenhouse that brings plant medicine into a hands-on learning environment. The building is highly anticipated and an important step in expanding  students knowledge and understanding of herbal and medicinal plants through immersive learning beyond a textbook approach. That vision holds important wisdom because many of  the healing properties of living plant material are variable depending on a wide range of complex factors, many dependent upon the growing process.

Taking into account the budget, the building was designed and sited with future expansion capability in mind. Its location serves the existing Medicinal Herb Garden which commences the Sacred Seed Trail walk, becoming a bridge between the campus, native population, and wider community. The trail is a seed sanctuary (including meadows, forest and wetland) for cultivation, preservation and promotion of plant knowledge of native plants and their use for food, ceremonies and medicine. The greenhouse enables greater opportunities for students and public to engage both the garden and trail.

schematic proposal for Seattle Center