Chicago Botanic Garden

Wight & Company · Glencoe, IL

Wight & Company reworked the front entrance of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.  What had been a drop-off designed around cars is now a Welcome Plaza for people on foot.  A new information and ticketing pavilion sits comfortably beside the existing visitor center.  Beyond the entry, the Picnic Glade lies between the forest and the formal gardens.  Its pavilions have perforated, backlit roofs that suggest the tree canopy overhead.  The glade adds restrooms, bike storage as well as rain gardens for stormwater, and the pavilions were placed to protect a 400 year old white oak.  To achieve the opening pre-dawn shot, we arrived on site at 5:30 am on a crisp October morning.  I’m not sure how much coffee I had on the way out to the shoot, but I don’t think it was enough.

Welcome Plaza canopy at the Chicago Botanic Garden lit before dawn above beds of purple and gold mums
Chicago Botanic Garden Welcome Plaza canopy and visitor center in morning sun behind rows of purple mums
Information and ticketing pavilion at the Chicago Botanic Garden with brick piers and glass under a deep canopy
Numbered brick entry piers beneath the Welcome Plaza canopy at the Chicago Botanic Garden, a visitor walking past planters
Long low canopy along the brick Welcome Plaza at the Chicago Botanic Garden, a visitor crossing beside the garden beds
View from beneath the canopy toward the Chicago Botanic Garden visitor center entrance and planters
Bronze metal panel wall of a Chicago Botanic Garden pavilion with tree shadows and a glass entry
Brick corridor in a Chicago Botanic Garden pavilion ending in a full-height window onto the woods
Square opening in the canopy framing evergreens above wet stone paving at the Chicago Botanic Garden
Overhead aerial of the Chicago Botanic Garden Welcome Plaza and visitor center courtyard
Picnic Glade pavilion at the Chicago Botanic Garden at dawn, picnic tables beside a lawn and lake
Picnic tables beneath the perforated, backlit canopy of the Chicago Botanic Garden Picnic Glade at dawn
Row of wood picnic tables along the Picnic Glade canopy at the Chicago Botanic Garden in morning light
Sunlight through the perforated metal roof of a Picnic Glade pavilion at the Chicago Botanic Garden
Overhead aerial of the Chicago Botanic Garden Picnic Glade pavilions between trees and the water
Chicago Botanic Garden lake reflecting trees and a pine at dawn, the Picnic Glade pavilions beyond