Longwood Gardens: Longwood Reimagined Case Study

A Reimagined Garden Experience Tuned for Atmosphere

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Built Environment

Industry

Museums, Arts & Culture

Location

Kennett Square, PA

Owner | Architect | Landscape Architect | Lighting Designer | AV Manufacturer

Longwood Gardens, Inc. | Weiss/Manfredi | Reed Hilderbrand | Tillotson Design Associates | Meyer Sound

Longwood Gardens has long stood apart as one of the country’s most celebrated cultural and botanical destinations, known for experiences where landscape, architecture, engineering, and atmosphere feel inseparable. That legacy was expanded through Longwood Reimagined, a major transformation of the gardens that included the West Conservatory — a 32,000-square-foot glasshouse with a subterranean service level — along with a new administration building, restaurant and event space, a second glasshouse, a standalone restroom building, and expanded exterior landscapes.

The project brought together multiple Trinity Consultants teams. Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B) provided MEP and AV consulting for the West Conservatory and broader Longwood Reimagined project. Jaffe Holden provided acoustic design for the Longwood Reimagined project and related spaces, along with AV support tied specifically to extending the Main Fountain Garden show system from the firm’s prior work at Longwood Gardens. Trinity Consultants also supported acoustic design needs through its broader team.

Vision

The Longwood Reimagined project was designed to feel both new and unmistakably Longwood. The visitor experience is shaped by glass, water, planting, movement, light, and sound, all working together in a setting where technical systems are most successful when they feel natural to the place.

For the Trinity Consultants teams, the vision centered on supporting that atmosphere through sound, technology, and building systems. Our JB&B team’s MEP and AV consulting addressed the full range of systems required for a working glasshouse: climate modeling, natural ventilation, integrated shading and humidity controls, geothermal heating and cooling for the project’s actively conditioned spaces, rainwater capture and reuse, and the audiovisual infrastructure supporting the conservatory’s programming spaces, all designed to support both horticultural requirements and visitor experience without calling attention to themselves. Our Jaffe Holden team’s acoustic work helped shape spaces for gathering, dining, programming, and daily operations while preserving the sensory richness that defines Longwood Gardens.

Partnership

Longwood Reimagined required close coordination across new construction, historic context, landscape, horticulture, visitor experience, and operations. Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hilderbrand shaped a conservatory and garden environment where architecture, planting, water, and movement are tightly interwoven. The Trinity Consultants teams supported that vision from different but connected roles.

Our JB&B team led MEP and AV consulting for the West Conservatory and broader Longwood Reimagined project. The work began with a detailed indoor climate model developed in partnership with Atelier 10, analyzing the thermal dynamics of the all-glass structure to assess impact on both visitor comfort and botanical growing conditions. That modeling informed a highly integrated systems approach: earth tubes passively precondition ventilation air drawn underground through gardens adjacent to the building; automated blinds manage solar heat gain and light levels across the glasshouse; operable openings allow natural ventilation whenever outdoor conditions permit; and a geothermal well field with water-to-water heat pumps provides all-electric heating and cooling to the project’s actively conditioned spaces. Rainwater capture and reuse systems support the project’s broader sustainability strategy. Humidity, temperature, irrigation, root-zone heating, and lighting controls are coordinated within a single environmental framework tailored to the needs of the conservatory’s plantings and its visitors. The team also provided AV systems for classroom and educational spaces across the campus, supporting Longwood’s public programming alongside the conservatory’s operational infrastructure.

Jaffe Holden focused on acoustic design for the Longwood Reimagined project and related spaces. In the new administration building and library, the team designed isolated podcast studios and an acoustical curtain wall to reduce noise from the adjacent high-traffic loading dock. In the event and dining space, the barrel-vaulted ceiling was supported through acoustic plaster that helped create a balanced auditory environment suited to dining, events, and gathering.

Within the conservatory, Jaffe Holden tuned low-level fountains to create a subtle hush of sound that complemented the surrounding acoustics and strengthened the sense of atmosphere. The team also supported the extension of the Main Fountain Garden show system from Jaffe Holden’s prior Longwood work, helping bring speaker coverage into new areas through infrastructure located within the underground tunnel system beneath the fountain canals.

Services Performed

JB&B, a Trinity Consultants team, provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, IT, security, audiovisual, cellular DAS, and ERRCS consulting for the West Conservatory and broader Longwood Reimagined project, including audiovisual systems for classroom and educational spaces across the campus.

Jaffe Holden, a Trinity Consultants team, provided acoustic design and targeted AV support related to extending the Main Fountain Garden show system from its prior Longwood Gardens work.

Environmental Acoustics

AV Systems Strategy & Design

Traditional Landscape Architecture

Value-Add

At Longwood Gardens, technical design had to do more than perform well. It had to recede into the experience. Jaffe Holden approached the acoustic work with that balance in mind, helping shape reflective, active, and highly sensory environments so they could support gathering, dining, programming, and daily operations while maintaining Longwood’s calm.

The acoustic work responded to different conditions across the project: glasshouse volumes, event and dining spaces, administrative areas, library spaces, and exterior garden environments. Fountain tuning added another layer, using water as part of the acoustic environment and deepening the sense of place.

The distinctiveness of Longwood Reimagined, and particularly the West Conservatory, lies in how completely its systems are woven together. Our JB&B team’s MEP and AV work supported that integration directly: natural ventilation coordinated with automated shading, geothermal conditioning and rainwater capture and reuse supporting the project’s sustainability goals, and environmental controls calibrated to the overlapping demands of botanical health and visitor comfort. Audiovisual systems for the campus’s classroom spaces extended that same attention to operational detail into Longwood’s educational programming. Jaffe Holden’s targeted show-system extension built on the firm’s earlier Main Fountain Garden work, allowing new areas to tie back into an established Longwood performance infrastructure.

Together, the Trinity Consultants teams helped support a destination where sound, building systems, technology, and sensory experience work in concert. The result is a visitor experience that feels effortless because the coordination behind it is so carefully integrated.

Thanks to Jaffe Holden’s exceptional design, the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater has consistently impressed both audiences and performing artists since opening in 2006. The discrete acoustical treatment above our hardwood ceiling, as well as the rippled design of the theater’s entire East wall, plays a crucial role in managing reflections and ensuring both clarity and warmth. Additionally, the team’s expert noise isolation design allows for seamless co-existence between the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater, our lobby, and our galleries, even as significant development has transformed the surrounding Seaport District. Their expertise continues to be invaluable, and we deeply appreciate their ongoing support in maintaining the integrity of their original acoustical vision.

Ryan Arnett | Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

Director of Production