Morris Arboretum at University of Pennsylvania

Situated along the Wissahickon Creek at the threshold between Philadelphia and its suburbs, the Morris’s long-term development plan will double its annual patronage, diversify its visitorship, and reorient itself to celebrate its natural lands as much as its renowned gardens and collections. 

Rather simple changes — relocating visitor arrival to be visible from the road, removing fences, clarifying circulation, managing vegetation, providing enhanced visitor amenities — transform two sites, an historic estate and agricultural field separated by a state road, into a unified and welcoming whole. Reimagined as a garden of gardens — designed and natural — the site is authentically Philadelphian. Focused both on design and programming, the plan enhances the interpretation of the arboretum’s collection, creates opportunities for world-class research, and grounds the mission in the work of adapting to a changing climate. The long-term vision is conceived as a framework, to be achieved incrementally with inherent flexibility to respond to changing conditions without sacrificing the strategic mission of the institution.