Baker Exhibition Center Phase I

The facility will function as the primary welcome and orientation facility for up to the 750,000 visitors annually. It will provide a concourse and reception area that will serve as an arrival and departure point.  The exterior will have areas relating to education, demonstration and conservation that will include a variety of land use exhibits covering up to 15 acres. The facility will provide both indoor and outdoor gathering space for information, orientation functions, and educational programs. The center will also include such amenities as restroom facilities, retail space for gifts and food service, gallery, distance learning center, educational exhibit and display areas, membership service spaces, and staff facilities.  Phase I includes space for horticultural collection displays to include components of the nationally recognized Arboretum bonsai collection.  It will serve, through a variety of technologies, to orient visitors to the physical, seasonal, and institutional dynamics of the Arboretum and its missions. In concert with the existing Education Center, it will allow the Arboretum to accommodate more extensive educational activities on a state, regional, national, and international basis.

Landscape Architectural design for the Baker Center is as important as architectural design in achieving a welcoming and comfortable fit of building to landscape. The total circulation and arrival sequence for driving (cars, buses and trams), parking, pedestrian access, and welcome before entering the Center are critical components.

This building will be a key focal point at the arboretum and as such will have a broad reaching effect on the surrounding land.  Visitors should experience beauty and function at work in design as they approach the Center. The landscape surrounding the Center must work in concert with interior spaces to create the sense of indoor/outdoor living that embraces the four seasons. Spaces in the landscape for orientation, out door classes, outdoor displays including retail sales and casual and/or formal dining should be planned for in association with interior building functions. Service areas in the landscape are necessary and a sensitivity to design for these areas is critical. 

The designer selected will design all phases of the Baker Center through conceptual design, and Phase I through working drawings, including the bid process and construction administration.  Phase I construction includes approximately 25,000 sq ft of covered space, the entry plaza, adjacent parking, and selected hardscape foundations for the outdoor exhibit areas. Design and construction of subsequent phases will be contingent on future funding. These later phases will complete development of program; event, exhibit, and staff support space to meet out-year demand.