Hoyt Arboretum New Visitor & Education Center

Hoyt Arboretum is a 190-acre “museum of trees” located within Portland’s urban Washington Park, home to 2,300 plant species and an international destination open to the public year-round. Operated by nonprofit Hoyt Arboretum Friends, the arboretum’s current visitor center no longer meets the organization’s needs, limiting operations and program offerings. Hennebery Eddy is planning and designing a new visitor and education center that will reflect the surrounding diversity in nature and community. The project aims to pursue Living Future certification, creating a regenerative campus that advances equity and operates as carbon-positive.

The concept design was informed by robust public engagement and detailed site analysis. A generous plaza serves as a central hub for arriving visitors, linking the primary uses. A visitor center, proximate to the street, enhances visibility and serves the high day-use activity with a nature store, interpretive displays, and visitor services. The education building is located as deep into the site as feasible, creating an immersive experience for occupants, with flexible spaces for learning and events, a plant herbarium and library, and staff spaces. A breezeway through the building connects to an elevated deck and creates a covered gathering point for all-season use. A stone vegetated wall screens a new maintenance yard to support the arboretum’s operations and goals to conserve rare and endangered species. Hennebery Eddy is actively assisting the friends organization as they seek funding to advance the project.