VanDusen Botanical Garden New Visitor Centre Grand Opening (photo gallery)

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, Vancouver Park Board chair Aaron Jasper and other local luminaries speaking at the VanDusen Botanical Garden New Visitor Centre official opening ceremony on October 23, 2011.

Inspired by an orchid leaf and designed by renowned architecture firm Perkins+Will along with groundbreaking landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Sharp & Diamond, the 19,000 square-foot, $21.9-million facility features rammed earth walls, geothermal and solar energy, on-site water capture and treatment, and the most environmentally responsible building materials, making it entirely carbon- and energy-neutral.