Selby Gardens Recognized by The Wall Street Journal

December 11, 2024 | Sarasota

The Wall Street Journal released its selection of “Best of Architecture of 2024” round-up, revealing their annual picks of outstanding architecture projects throughout the country. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was one of only five projects selected. The feature article titled, The Best Architecture of 2024: Accentuate the Personal, by Wall Street Journal architecture critic Michael Lewis, states:

“Many of the year’s most successful projects—including New York’s Far Rockaway Library and the expansion of Florida’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens—struck pleasingly human notes for all their impressive scale.

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, occupying a luxuriant 15-acre site in Sarasota, Fla., have added three new buildings that encompass 188,000 square feet, more than 10 times the size of the Far Rockaway Library, but they also show a pleasing human touch. The centerpiece is the Morganroth Family Living Energy Access Facility (LEAF), which according to the Selby contains “a garden-to-plate restaurant, a new gift shop, vertical gardens, and a nearly 50,000-square-foot solar array”; one has to look twice before realizing that all these functions are wrapped around an unexpectedly pleasant parking garage. The Selby specializes in “air plants,” or epiphytes, that depend on other plants for their support, which does not suggest a massive architecture rooted firmly in the ground. When I visited earlier this year, I was struck by the airy lightness of the entrance canopy, which was made as open as possible, with no sullen turnstile, and wondered how it would hold up in a hurricane. Now we know. Hurricane Helene, which buffeted Sarasota on Sept. 27, left the Selby unscathed, including its irreplaceable plant research center that was intended to be hurricane-resilient. The project is a collaboration between Overland Partners, a firm of Texas-based architects, and OLIN, the landscape architects.”

This architectural distinction was bestowed soon after Selby Gardens announced that in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the institution was forging ahead with its vital plans for resiliency and Phase Two of its ambitious three-phase Master Plan for the Downtown Sarasota campus.

Building on the success of Phase One, this next phase will further enhance Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus, securing its resiliency and expanding its beauty, research facilities, and educational offerings for the community and visitors from around the world. The capital goal for Phase Two stands at $60.9 million. $40.3 million has now been raised, which is more than 66% of the goal. The cumulative total of funds raised for both Phases One and Two has reached the $103 million mark, including nearly $8 million for endowment with 99% percent of all funds coming from private philanthropy.

Phase Two is expected to break ground by the end of 2025, with completion anticipated by the end of 2027.

Jennifer O. Rominiecki, President and CEO of Selby Gardens stated, “On behalf of the Board of Trustees and all of us at Selby Gardens, we are truly honored to be recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best architectural achievements of 2024. This acknowledgment is a testament to the vision, innovation, and dedication of our team, as well as the incredible support from our community. As we celebrate this achievement, we remain focused on resiliency and the future — with plans for continued growth as global leaders for sustainability and the expansion of Phase Two of Selby Gardens’ Master Plan. Our commitment to blending innovation with nature remains at the heart of everything we do, and we look forward to the next chapter in our journey.”

Read more here:  https://www.wsj.com/style/design/the-best-architecture-of-2024-accentuate-the-personal-c9719021

To learn more about Phase Two: Read Here