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A community college providing 21st century job training repositions itself with a new institutional master plan arising from an inclusive engagement process and robust data analytics

A new life: Regeneration meets design

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Exhibit Staging Center
Pittsburgh, PA
Lens Service: Regenerative Design & Development

What does it mean for a project to be regenerative? Beyond sustainability, these projects enrich and give back. They support our human relationships – with each other and the planet – and help us feel happier and healthier. Lens supported the Exhibit Staging Center (ESC) in uniting the team and community to envision and achieve a project that fosters and elevates health and well-being, connects us to place, revitalizes nature, and gives more than it takes.

Top photo credit: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Photo credit: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a globally recognized green leader whose mission includes advancing sustainability and promoting human and environmental well-being through action and research. Initially a 1960s public works building, the ESC transformed in 2019, becoming one of the greenest buildings in the world – prioritizing the health and well-being of people and the planet.

Fostering 21st century teaching and learning; robust campus development

Photo credit: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Fostering 21st century teaching and learning; robust campus development

Photo credit: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

As biophilia consultant for the project, Lens designed and facilitated a series of customized in-person regenerative, integrative design workshops focused on interdisciplinary stakeholder (design team, owner, community) engagement to create a unique design strategy to foster human-nature connections. The workshops occurred during the design process, creating a roadmap for its implementation into the project. Lens then utilized this design strategy to advise the team throughout the project planning and all the way through occupancy. Program spaces encourage physical and mental well-being – including a yoga studio, fitness center, and meditation room. There is also an array of compelling biophilic design patterns throughout, such as connection to water, natural and indigenous materials, views, and vistas, daylight, and multi-sensory artwork.
Fostering 21st century teaching and learning; robust campus development
From a dilapidated cinderblock building to one of the world’s greenest buildings, the project has achieved three of the world’s most rigorous green building standards: Living Building Challenge, LEED Platinum, and WELL Platinum.