Muttart Conservatory

Architect Peter Hemingway designed the complex around a central service core. Two larger pyramids cover about 660 square metres each and two medium ones about 410 square metres each, and a smaller fifth skylight pyramid lights the foyer. A donation from the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation helped start construction, with the City of Edmonton and the Government of Alberta providing the rest. A renovation worth CAD 6.3 million was completed in June 2009.

The pyramid form lets light in from many angles for plants from different climates, while the central core houses the mechanical systems that regulate temperature and humidity. One architectural profile says Hemingway chose the shape to allow for vertical plant growth and to make a non-directional form that is both practical and pleasing, and it counts roughly 3,700 square metres of climate-controlled growing space. The building sits in the river valley across from downtown.

The site has a working past: the same profile says the Cloverdale Flats ground held an abattoir, a dog pound, a lumber mill and an incinerator in the early 1900s, before the garden replaced them.

Peter Hemingway was born in England in 1929 and emigrated to Alberta in 1955, after learning that the provincial government was recruiting architects from abroad for public work. He is often described as an exponent of the Late Modern style. Two of his Edmonton buildings, the Coronation Pool (begun in 1967 as a centennial project and later renamed in his honour) and the Stanley Engineering Building, won Massey Awards for architecture. He died in 1995 at age 66.

The City describes three climate-controlled biomes plus a feature pyramid, with more than 700 plant species overall. The tropical pyramid is described as a rainforest with over 350 species from more than 60 plant families. Tall palms shade banana, weeping fig, orchids, hibiscus and bird of paradise, and a waterfall runs into a central pool with small fish and water lilies, according to Wikipedia.

The arid pyramid shows desert plants adapted to under 25 centimetres of rain a year, drawn from hot and cold dry regions on five continents. Wikipedia notes that an agave planted a year after the conservatory opened bloomed to about 30 feet in spring 2013, reaching the top of the pyramid.

The temperate pyramid holds plants from zones such as the southern Great Lakes, Australia and mountainous Asia. A stream-fed bog near the entrance with white water lilies gives way to woodland with eastern deciduous trees, redwoods and cedars, an Australian section of eucalyptus and flowering shrubs, and an alpine section that includes some Alberta natives. Controlled conditions let the plants go dormant in winter and bloom in spring.

The fourth, feature pyramid hosts seasonal displays of massed ornamental plants that change several times a year, so a return visit shows something different. Seasonal shows are announced by the City, so check its Muttart page for the current display.

Plant highlights recorded by Wikipedia include a titan arum (corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum) that budded on 11 March 2013 and bloomed on 22 April 2013. The garden also has a gazebo outdoors, and the Culina Muttart Cafe, which Wikipedia says uses locally sourced ingredients including herbs and salad greens grown on site, though menus and operators change. The site is also used for events such as weddings.

The conservatory also has a gift shop and a cafe, and Wikipedia reports about 100,000 visitors a year, citing a 2012 garden-tourism book. The Muttart light-rail stop on the Valley Line serves the site. Check the City of Edmonton's website for current hours, tickets and any closures.

Because the biomes are climate controlled, it is a popular warm-weather stop in winter. Voyzo's private vehicle and driver can pick your group up at the door and combine the Muttart with other river valley sights, which helps if mobility or cold weather is a concern.