Hazel Hare Center for Plant Science / 180 Degrees Design + Build + colab studio

Walls and fences are typically used to keep people and areas separate, but at the Desert Botanical Garden an unusual series of structures actually brought people together. We combined wood, concrete, steel, stone and block to create a variety of richly textured and highly functional separators that both physically divided and visually connected open spaces. The Garden also needed a means to separate the “front of house” from “back of house” operations at the Horticultural Center, while allowing the public some degree of access and understanding of the building’s purpose and innovation. Many less interesting designs languished on the boards until Salenger conceived a Great Wall of boulders and gabions that were not only functional, but gave garden volunteers an opportunity to get involved as well.