Lewis Ginter Garden Expansion
Lewis Ginter Garden Expansion
The THRIVE Expansion at Lewis
Ginter Botanical Garden represents the Garden's most significant investment in more than two decades, expanding the campus through a $31 million initiative that nearly doubles the Conservatory, adds 7.5 acres of new gardens, and transforms Wick Lake into a vibrant destination for environmental education, recreation, and horticultural discovery. Envisioned as a collaborative effort among several landscape architecture firms responsible for adjacent gardens and collections, the expansion establishes a cohesive landscape experience that celebrates horticulture, ecology, and wellness while creating new opportunities for learning and exploration.
Waterstreet Studio served as the Landscape Architect for the Wick Lake district and the connective landscape framework that unifies the expansion. Working in close collaboration with the design team, Waterstreet transformed a previously inaccessible irrigation reservoir into the ecological heart of the Garden by separating the existing lake into dedicated stormwater management and irrigation ponds, creating a resilient water system that improves water quality, enhances habitat, and supports the Garden's long-term sustainability objectives. The design integrates Martha's Way, the Jane Hartough Outdoor Classroom, Shannon's Orchard, lakeside overlooks, trails, and immersive native plant communities into a sequence of landscapes that reveal the movement and value of water throughout the site. By linking the surrounding specialty gardens designed by 3North, Phyto Studio, Austin Eischeid, Wambui Ippolito, and Catalina LaFrance into a cohesive visitor experience, the project demonstrates how landscape architecture can seamlessly integrate infrastructure, ecology, and public space to create an enduring destination that connects people more deeply to plants, place, and the natural systems that sustain them.
LOCATION:
Henrico County, VA
CLIENT:
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
PROJECT TEAM:
3North - Architect & Landscape Architect
Phyto Studio - Signature Garden Designer
Wambui Ippolito - Signature Garden Designer
Austin Eischeid - Signature Garden Designer
Catalina LaFrance - Signature Garden Designer
Timmons Group - Civil Engineer
Hourigan - Contractor
RENDERINGS:
3North (3D Model)
Waterstreet (Site Plan)