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Sunken Gardens Restoration/Renovation
St. Petersburg, FL
City of St. Petersburg | 45,000 SF | 2003
From decades as a popular roadside tourist attraction to what is now a world famous botanical paradise, Sunken Gardens is St. Petersburg's oldest living museum and home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.
Originally constructed in 1926, the building on the site was designed as an open air public market. In 1940, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of St. Petersburg retained architect William B. Harvard, Sr., founder of Harvard Jolly Architecture, to transform the building for use as a bottling plant, offices, and a public auditorium. This began a long-term collaboration between Harvard Jolly and the attraction.
After years of decline and change of ownership, the property was purchased by the City of St. Petersburg in 1999. The city tasked us to develop a site master plan that integrated the gardens, Great Explorations (a children’s science museum), gift shops, and public parking. The project also included designing a complete exterior restoration and interior renovation that returned the building to its original Mediterranean Revival style.
Working together with city staff, Sunken Gardens, and Great Explorations, Harvard Jolly designed a unique entrance and lobby that all visitors of the building will share. We also redesigned portions of the Sunken Gardens botanical walkway path in order to meet current ADA accessibility codes.
The ultimate result of this design and planning effort is a seamless integration of the currently disjointed site into a range of experiences for visitors.
