Modern Bonsai Greenhouse
This modern glass building, designed in collaboration with Peter White of ZEN Associates, is set in the garden of a metro Boston residence, and evokes the midcentury penchant for clean, horizontal lines, and exposed structural elements. A painted tubular steel frame is infilled with aluminum sliding glass doors. The subdued luster of anodize bronze finish insists on the dignity of shape and settles the greenhouse into its surroundings.
The interior is divided in two with a finished sitting space in the front and a functioning greenhouse to the rear. The sitting space has a green roof of native grasses and overlooks a Japanese rock garden. The polished concrete floor and gas fireplace provide a sense of domestic interiority. A glass roof lets light into the rear greenhouse, and the gravel floor and teak benches lend this space, used for Bonsai cultivation, a naturalistic atmosphere.
Glass House in the Garden is situated in the landscape designed by the late Ron Herman and ZEN Associates.
The ethereal glass-and-steel pavilion seems to float above a rock garden….The potting room’s zen-like simplicity masks a sophisticated mechanical and drainage system. “You can literally open up a hose on the floor, and all the water will sink into the ground,” says architect Colin Flavin, who designed the glass house in collaboration with landscape architect Peter White."A Place to Bond With His Bonsai," Wall Street Journal, 2016
Credits
Landscape Design
Ron Herman Landscape Architect
Landscape Architect
ZEN Associates
General Contractor
Thoughtforms
Landscape Contractor
ZEN Associates
Structural Engineer
Siegel Associates
Mechanical Engineer
Sun Engineering
Structural Steel
Kelley Welding
Architectural Masonry
R.P. Marzilli Landscape
Windows + Doors
Architectural Glazing Systems
Photography
Peter Vanderwarker Photography
Gregg Shupe Photography
Awards + Publications
"Best of Houzz Design, Modern Shed," Houzz, 2024
"Serenity by Design," Atomic Ranch, 2020
"Amor por los bonsáis," Arquitectura y Diseño (Architecture and Design, Spain), 2017
"A Place to Bond with His Bonsai," Wall Street Journal, 2016