The Bowden Centre is a new educational facility at Mt Annan Botanic Garden, NSW, designed by Kennedy Associates Architects for the NSW Botanic Gardens Trust. Construction was completed in February 2007. The building is primarily intended as an education facility and as such was required to demonstrate best practice in sustainable design to meet the Botanic Gardens role in promoting an appreciation of the Australian landscape, environment and climate. The building is also to serve as a multi purpose venue and has been designed to accommodate a broad range of other activities, from seminars to weddings. The building comprises a 345m2 structure which houses one large 105m2 space, with supporting facilities including staff offices and a commercial kitchen. Attached to the main space is a 50m2 outdoor classroom providing a wonderful outlook across the botanic garden. The building, although relatively small, achieves a strong presence through its elongated form, the use of tripartite massing, soaring roofs and a 30m long verandah facing onto the adjoining open green. The design encourages engagement with the surrounding garden through the incorporation of carefully placed windows to the teaching space, a generous verandah fronting the adjacent green, and a semi enclosed “outdoor teaching space” at the western end of the building. The project brief called for a building that: “demonstrates the practicable incorporation of leading edge ecological sustainability features in …
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