museumartdesign
How are splash pads designed at botanical gardens?
Quick answer
Botanical-garden splash pads emphasize plant-themed design, conservation messaging, and integration with horticultural collections. Features may be shaped like native flora, paired with edible-plant gardens, and include interpretive signage on water-cycle ecology. Notable examples: Atlanta Botanical Garden, Denver Botanic Gardens, Chicago Botanic Garden.
Botanical-garden splash pads weave horticulture, ecology, and water-play into integrated experiences. Notable installations include Atlanta Botanical Garden's Fuqua Children's Garden, Denver Botanic Gardens' Mordecai Children's Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Learning Campus, Missouri Botanical Garden's Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden in St. Louis, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Discovery Garden, the Cleveland Botanical Garden Hershey Children's Garden, and the Lurie Garden splash plaza in Chicago. Design features: spray jets shaped like native flora (cattails, lilies, lotus), surrounding edible-plant gardens with seasonal harvests, interpretive signage on water-cycle ecology and watershed health, integration with rain-garden stormwater systems, native-plant pollinator gardens nearby, and educational programming tied to children's gardening curricula. The pads often serve as anchors for summer-camp programming. Funding mixes capital campaigns, family foundations, and percent-for-art programs. Designers include specialty firms like Mikyoung Kim Design, Reed Hilderbrand, and Hoerr Schaudt.