With the final stage of a multiyear revitalization now completed, Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens horticultural center has announced its official reopening date will be November 22nd, 2024. This concludes the work performed by Weiss/Manfredi in collaboration with Reed Hilderbrand. The project cost for Longwood Reimagined was approximately $250 million. 

Work on the 17-acre expansion culminated with the addition of a new 32,000-square-foot glass greenhouse designed by Weiss/Manfredi that houses the immersive Mediterranean garden creation from Reed Hilderbrand, serviced by a network of 128 geothermal wells which are connected to a ground-level heat exchanger. 

Beyond that is a brand new structure called The Grove that was made to host Longwood Gardens' education and administrative operations. Another important aspect of the project is the relocated 1906 restaurant, which was tucked inside a 6,100-square-foot footprint made by removing a retaining wall behind the historic original Main Conservatory building. 

Inside, its vaulted ceiling showcases a basketweave detail. Alabaster wall sconces, a walnut and granite bar top, and custom-made furnishings produced by the Delaware-based nonprofit Challenge Program using materials harvested from downed trees on the Longwood campus, provide a warm touch of craft for diners to enjoy.

Echoing the 1906 design is a new Fountain Room meant to host private events and deliberately positioned to frame views of the Main Fountain Garden. It joins other new constructions such as a 3,800-square-foot glasshouse that shelters Roberto Burle Marx's carefully reinstalled Cascade Garden design from 1992 and the new Conservatory Outlook, which opened this May.

The Bonsai Gardens also feature a new 12,500-square-foot outdoor gallery called the Bonsai Courtyard. Alongside that, the restored three-story Potting Shed houses Longwood’s new Bonsai Workshop and horticulture workspaces.

Overall, the project creates a deeply sustainable and newly ADA-compliant campus imbued with 21st century green design practices and innovations capable of a "bold leap into the future." 

Kristin Frederickson, a Principal at Reed Hilderbrand, said she and her colleagues "approached this project with a commitment to creating immersive gardens that both celebrate the richness of Longwood’s existing collections and expand them for the next century."

You can see for yourself as part of the upcoming exhibition A Longwood Christmas, which runs until January 12. Longwood Gardens is located in the town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.