![]() ![]() It has a branching system that threads through the blocks and includes a drip emitter. “The irrigation head looks like an octopus,” Rossi adds. To help the plants get the necessary water to keep them alive, an equipment room behind the blocks runs all the irrigation. Holes were drilled through the suitable pockets after it was assembled. Six carved Calypso Coral stone scuppers strategically positioned within the cubic green wall blocks serve as the waterspouts in the fountain. “We did little mesh bags that were embedded in the pockets and then we introduced irrigation,” Rossi says. Once the blocks were brought to Houston, each was hand placed on site with the crane operator to pick the best face where they could plant soil pockets. The Calypso Coral stone was quarried and fabricated in the Dominican Republic. The firm collaborated with Camarata Masonry Systems in Houston to develop the shop drawings and to supply and install the masonry units, stone cladding, and blocks at the feature wall and fountain. The fact that it came from a humid tropical climate similar to Houston’s also made it an ideal choice for both the fountain and feature wall. This is what gives the stone its unique finish and characteristics desired for this project. The upper crust is subjected to wind erosion, soil deposition, salt, and other conditions because it comes from an island climate. Often, this stone is discarded as a waste material because it doesn’t have the consistent properties suitable for cladding as one would get from the lower tiers of the quarry. “Essentially, the green wall blocks are from the upper crust of the quarry,” Rossi explains. “We thought it was an ideal candidate to work as a host for collections within the garden,” Rossi says. It was a sustainable choice, and the stone was already acting as a planter for plant collections in its natural state. What is often considered waste material was part of the reason this stone was selected for the fountain. These details, each unique to the 64 blocks, would prove to be critical for the overall design. For example, Rossi says, some blocks had pockets or holes while others already had some kind of soil in it. They hand selected 64 Calypso Coral blocks for the green wall from the field that are often left as waste material and tagged each block based on their expressive characteristics. This is where they located Calypso Coral stone, a limestone with characteristically visible shells and sea fossils. As part of the innovative green wall design, plants grow in natural voids within the stone surface of the fountain or within pockets intentionally lined along a wall.įinding those ideal stones meant Rossi and her team had to fly to the Dominican Republic with their mason and stone supplier. In total, four areas feature natural stone during this initial phase of the Houston Botanic Garden project: the garden entrance, the pavilion, the alcove feature wall, and the fountain. You don’t have to modify it in any way to make it do what it needs to do.” “It’s not a subjective mix material, it is good in its own state that we value. “Natural stone is such a noble material, and there’s a gravity to it that is immediately recognizable and universally appreciated by everyone,” she says. Rossi often incorporates natural stone for her projects because of its inherently sustainable qualities. “We went with concrete, stone, metal, and ceramic to introduce a series of architectural interventions that would act as a backdrop to frame the garden and also give infrastructure and shade and introduce water.” Natural stone was included to give the overall design the bones that frame the collection and give it a sense of place. “When you look at the garden in the context of the overall island, it’s essentially plants within green space,” Rossi says. Natural stone played a major role in framing the garden, according to Donna Bridgeman Rossi, the project director at West 8, an urban planning and landscape architecture firm based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with offices in the United States. They will also see a stunning feature wall and fountain created using unique natural stone, some of which was sustainably harvested from the Dominican Republic. Many are plants that have never been seen in this area. Guests strolling through the garden will see more than 3,000 growing species from all over the world. ![]() Photo by Hester and Hardaway Photographers Photo by Hester and Hardaway Photographers ![]()
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