Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
Belmont, North Carolina
I
n 1989, Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile
executive from Belmont, NC, reserved 400
acres of prime rolling meadows, woodlands
and lake front property and established a
foundation to develop a world-class botanical garden.
Curvilinear walkway meanders through tropical plants.
Geoffrey Rausch of MTR, Pittsburgh, PA, was
selected as the master planner for the land and the
first phase of the project included a visitor pavilion,
and 110 acres of cultivated land with 10 acres of
formal display gardens, all of which was completed
in 1999.
The second phase, which included the acclaimed
Orchid Conservatory, introduced the first public
conservatory in the region devoted to tropical
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plants. The architects were looking for an aggregate
walkway to match the local surroundings and
Close-up of granite monolithic curb and walkway.
serve as a central feature of the structure. The
owners wanted a low maintenance walkway with
a monolithic curb to hold the mulch and moisture
off the walkway. Due to the design flexibility of the
aggregates and the dense low maintenance surface,
the answer for both the architects and the owners
®
was Lithocrete . Samples were made with various
blends of aggregates and color combinations until
the owners and architects settled on a mixture of four
different granites to blend with the natural stone,
brick, and slate used elsewhere on the project.
Curvilinear aggregate walkway provides a non-slip surface for
visitors.
®
By utilizing Lithocrete for the Orchid Walkway,
the planners achieved a non-slip surface for visitors
of all ages to walk on, with little work for the
maintenance crew in the moist, tropical environment.
Simultaneously, the architects achieved a color
scheme that is not only distinctive in its own right,
but blends beautifully with the natural surroundings.
Four granite aggregates in monolithic walkway and curb.
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