Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Its major design features are inspired by the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace.

[2] The building was constructed by John R. Sheehan under contract for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

[8] The principal officers of the new corporation set up for the garden were Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan, with Nathaniel Lord Britton as the new secretary.

The 1935 renovation, in particular, was described as "an attempt to halt the deterioration of the endangered building and bring it up to the prevailing taste of European Modernism.

[12] However, by 1978, the Conservatory was in a state of extreme disrepair and was slated for demolition due to a lack of funding for its renovation.

The redesign created a transitioning environment through the pavilions that conveys a trip over mountains from wet western slopes, up through the rainforest and down into the desert.

[16] In addition to their embrace of new materials, Lord & Burnham was innovative in the development of boilers (which were a key part of the greenhouses' functioning).

He served as the first vice president, secretary, and general sales manager of Lord & Burnham, and had designed many parks, conservatories, and private estates throughout the country.

At the time this was an unusual arrangement, as the conservatory had no axial or visual connection to the museum or any other buildings in the park.

Additionally, the chosen site placed the conservatory in a location where the building is visible from the boundary streets along the south and west of the park.

The arrangement created visibility of the conservatory from the road and presented the building as a public icon, relationships which still remain.

The adjacent gardens were considered important supporting resources to the conservatory, and also related to the geometry of the building.

However, the ground glass was not alone sufficient to provide shading and additional means were employed which would allow for modification depending on seasonal conditions.

[22] In addition to the structural and glazing systems, a variety of other materials were used for the base of the building, the waterproofing, ornament, and other secondary functions.

Bluestone, Buff Bedford Stone, North River brick, and Tennessee marble were used for the masonry work.

However, the building systems behind what visitors see have been greatly altered in major efforts to maintain the best possible environment for the plants inside.

The conservatory form developed as a combination of the latest technologies in greenhouse design and more traditional ideas of ornament.

The configuration of the building into distinct pavilions allows for each of these global regions to be treated separately in terms of the temperature and humidity maintained for the plants.

For example, every year hundreds of scientists travel to the conservatory to study the rare palm and cacti exhibits.

As a symbol of the NYBG however, the conservatory remains the main draw of the park and its form has developed an iconic status in New York City and beyond.