PROJECT OVERVIEW

Situated on 252 acres of land in the core of Orange, Texas,

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center serves
principally as an interpretive place for the site's local
environments—cypress and tupelo swamp, lush uplands, and
prairie marshes—just as an office for study and research. A
program of the Stark Foundation, Shangri La interfaces
guests of any age with nature.

The nature focus gives hands-on learning openings by

methods for a display called the Nature Discovery Lab, a lab,
and three outside study halls found somewhere down in the
cypress swamp. The Orientation Center incorporates a
display corridor, theater, intelligent kids' nursery, study hall
and presentation nurseries, and a water exhibition garden that
shows how plants channel contamination from water. A bistro,
garden store, volunteer focus, and regulatory spaces are
likewise included.

In September 2005, toward the start of development, the

Shangri La property continued an immediate hit from
Hurricane Rita. Instead of surrendering a difficulty, the group
made the most of the open door for rescuing fallen trees and
fusing them into the new offices or gathering them for different
undertakings.
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 DESIGN & INNOVATION

The project began with the restoration of the land, which had
been closed to the public for 50 years. The primary goal was a
plan for the facilities that balanced access with preservation of
the site, which includes Adam's Bayou, a tupelo and cypress
swamp, pine uplands, and prairie lowlands.
The architecture responds to both the manmade and natural
environments of Shangri La. The visitor center, which
surrounds a wetlands demonstration garden, is the gateway to
the historic ornamental gardens. It takes its cues from the
brick, glass, and steel greenhouses built in the early 1920s,
which form one edge of the complex. Circulation is outdoors,
often under wide canopies that protect from sun and rain. The
structures in the natural areas—the nature discovery lab and
pavilion, outdoor classrooms, bird blind, and boat house—
were designed for minimal impact, floating above the land on
helical pier foundations and powered by photovoltaic panels.
The project earned the first LEED for New Construction
Platinum rating in the state of Texas and the Gulf Coast
region.

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 CONSTRUCTION & MATERIALS

Hurricane Rita devastated Shangri La in 2005, at the

beginning of construction. Rather than conceding a setback,
the project team milled fallen trees onsite and used them for
outdoor benches, furniture in the orientation center, and
framing lumber for the main pavilion.
The majority of the structures making up the orientation center
used reclaimed brick salvaged from an Arkansas warehouse
built in 1910. Sinker cypress salvaged from Louisiana rivers
was used for siding, slat walls, fencing doors, and gates.
Reclaimed asphalt from the repaving of a local street became
the parking lot.
The project team maximized the use of existing structures
through the creative reuse of greenhouses. Exterior space is
utilized for flexible-use classrooms and more than 90% of
building circulation is outdoors, reducing construction
intensity, material use, energy consumption and maintenance
over time.
Of the building materials, 49% (by value) were manufactured
within 500 miles of the project site, reducing transportation
impacts and supporting the regional economy. During
construction, the contractors diverted more than 79% of the
construction waste from the landfill.
The project team also specified materials with recycled
content, including the boardwalks that traverse the swamp,
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which are made from a recycled plastic and wood composite.
The amount of recycled plastic used in the boardwalks equals
the amount of plastic in 1.1 million milk jugs or 3.6 million
plastic bags.
Helical pier foundations reduced environmental impact in
sensitive areas, while minimizing the carbon footprint and
material intensity associated with traditional alternatives.

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 BIO CLIMATIC DESIGN

The project team focused on providing necessary comfort in

the hot, humid climate while minimizing dependence on active
systems. The strategies used include:
-Limiting mechanical systems to the orientation theater, cafe,
bookstore, laboratory, and administrative offices to reduce first
costs, energy use, and maintenance;
-Elevating the nature discovery center and classrooms above
the bayou fringe, using screened walls that allow air to
circulate, and designing broad overhangs that shelter the
space from rain and summer sun;
-Keeping circulations space outdoors to limit the conditioned
indoor space; and
-Installing photovoltaic panels to provide electricity for the
project.

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 LAND USE & SITE ECOLOGY

The 252-acre site along Adam’s Bayou includes wetlands,

upland forests, and grasslands. The project team took an
ecological inventory to define distinct ecological zones and
their ecotones (areas of overlapping zones).
The goals of the site plan were to:
-Minimize disruption and fragmentation of ecological zones;
-maximize use of previously disturbed areas to protect native
zones; and
-minimize site infrastructure intrusions, while emphasizing
access to ecotones.
All site structures in sensitive areas use helical pier
foundations to minimize short- and long-term impacts to the
environment, including the disruption of water flow.
Construction methods and timing were designed to minimize
noise and disturbance in habitat areas. For instance,
construction was scheduled so as not to disturb nesting on
Ruby Lake, an important heronry. Public access to remote
outpost classrooms is provided via electric boats to control
usage patterns, minimize traffic in prime habitat areas, and
protect sensitive areas.
The project team has also removed invasive species,
including Chinese Tallow trees, Chinese Privet, and Water
Hyacinth, and replanted with native plants that thrive in the
environment.
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 LIGHT & VENTILATION

More than 75% of the interior spaces have access to daylight.

Daylight sensors control artificial lighting according to need,
increasing energy efficiency. Exterior shading devices
minimize solar heat gain and glare.
Narrow floor plates give 90% of the spaces views to the
outdoors, including views of preserved areas and courtyard
gardens. Operable windows and other controls give
occupants control over thermal comfort, ventilation, and
lighting.
Educational materials, including brochures, websites, lectures,
and tours, connect occupants and visitors to the buildings and
their surroundings and ensure that the buildings are used
properly.

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 INFERENCE

It caters carefully to the type of occupant. A place for quiet

observation, it was a nice, delicate intervention on its site.
They brought the programmed square footage down from
20,000 to 13,000. This is a good example of right sizing, an
approach that is often overlooked. This project also follows
the big moves; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

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SHANGRI LA
BOTANICAL
GARDENS &
NATURE
CENTRE

DECEMBER 4