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An aerial view of a landscaped area featuring a narrow waterway with lily pads, surrounded by lush greenery, and a wooden walkway leading to a modern building under a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds.

Exhibit Staging Center at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

A dynamic retrofit of a 1960s public works building, the Exhibit Staging Center is now one of the greenest buildings in the world.

Project Description

In 2019, Phipps undertook a retrofit of a 1960s public works building – originally constructed with block wall masonry, a flat roof and no windows – to create the Exhibit Stating Center (ESC). Now one of the greenest buildings in the world, the space prioritizes the health and safety of people and the planet, achieving three of the world’s most rigorous building standards: Living Building Challenge (2023), LEED Platinum (2022), and WELL Platinum (2021). The project also achieved the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management.

High Performance Building Case Study

Exhibit Staging Center at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

Completed

2019

Municipality

City of Pittsburgh

Neighborhood

Oakland

Certifications

Living Building Challenge certified, LEED Platinum, WELL Platinum, WELL Health-Safety Rated

Key Green Features

2030 District Partner
Biophilic Design
Brownfield Remediation
Daylighting
Efficient Energy Systems
Green Power Purchasing
Green Roof
Habitat Protection and Restoration
Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
Materials Selection (Healthy)
Materials Selection (Local)
Materials Selection (Salvage and Reuse)
Native Landscaping
On-site Geothermal
On-site Solar Power
Rainwater Collection

Building Use

Education
Multi-Use

Awards Received

Second Award 2020 (World Design Awards), Architecture – Cultural Award 2024 (Better Future), Honorable Mention – Architectural Design / Green Architecture (Architecture Masterprize), Adaptive Reuse Award (Retrofit Metamorphosis), Project Leadership Award 2020 (Construction Owners Association of America), Gold Winner 2022 (Urban Design & Architecture Design Awards), Award of Merit 2020 (ENR MidAtlantic), 2020 Historic Preservation Award (Preservation PA)

Building Size

10,658

Building Owner

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden

Project Team

FortyEighty Architecture, Common Ground, Iams Consulting, evolveEA, Studio Phipps, Massaro Corporation, Shepley Bulfinch, Karl Steinmetz Designs, Building Performance Architecture, CJL Engineering, 7group

Exhibit Staging Center at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

High Performance Building Case Study

Exhibit Staging Center at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

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