On a beautiful day in January, 15 architecture firms—both local and from as far away as Boston and New Orleans—met with members of the BGP staff and Board of Directors in response to our Request for Proposals for the design of the Garden’s buildings. The firms were oriented to the Garden’s mission, vision, and schematic plan, and there were questions and answers and a tour of the existing conditions at the Garden site.

Pictured: Walden Pond Visitor Center designed by Maryann Thompson Architects. Photo by Chuck Choi.

BGP received eight proposals for architectural services. The Selection Committee tasked with determining the winning candidate was composed of Board Members, the Executive Director (a landscape architect), and community members from affiliated professional fields. The process of elimination was based on the same procedures used during the selection of the landscape architecture team: evaluating the proposals based on predetermined criteria, including their portfolio of work and relevant projects, and a comparison of their fees and construction project estimates.

Once the four leading candidates were identified, the Committee interviewed the firms and checked their references. Each firm was requested to provide concept drawings of the two major architectural components—the Garden Pavilion and the Visitor’s Center. Four elements were particularly important to the Committee: a WOW! factor and innovation; the buildings’ relationship to the site and their interaction with nature; the flow and usability of the buildings and their layout; and the material choices and the overall budget. We were fortunate to have four very good firms and the Conceptual Plans received by BGP were all inspiring, so the selection of the winning candidate was not an easy process.

Pictured: Walden Pond Visitor Center designed by Maryann Thompson Architects. Photo by Chuck Choi.

We are very excited to announce that Maryann Thompson Architects will be our architects for the buildings at Botanical Garden of the Piedmont. The community chose Maryann’s work as an inspiration for the design of our buildings during the 2018 Schematic Plan community input sessions, and her portfolio of relevant projects and her enthusiasm about BGP resonated with the Selection Committee. You can read more about the firm at https://maryannthompson.com/

Pictured: Maryann Thompson and Martha Foss of Maryann Thompson Architects

The firm will be collaborating with our landscape architects, Mikyoung Kim Design and Waterstreet Studio, to develop a Garden oasis in the heart of Central Virginia. We welcome Maryann Thompson Architects to the BGP community and look forward to “Growing the Garden” to the next level of its development. We also thank the members of the Selection Committee for their time, hard work, and thoughtful consideration!