The Tyler Arboretum comprises 650 acres of plant collections, heritage and champion trees, historic buildings, and hiking trails. At the new Edible Garden and Education Building, visitors can learn about sustainable ways to grow fruits and vegetables through the “living classroom” with a series of teaching gardens, as it connects people back to their farming roots. In addition to natural farming, students learn hands-on methods for healthy lifestyles, cooking, gardening, storm water management, rain gardens, and permeable paving options. When Tyler Arboretum approached DIGSAU Architects, their mission was to use natural resources to stimulate an understanding of the living world. This inspired DIGSAU to design the primary exterior of the classroom building fully clad in terra cotta, using its likeness to the baked-earth terra cotta flowerpots common to all types of gardening.
Ludowici was approached by DIGSAU to help provide a solution—since Ludowici can make so many shapes and colors, they
thought, why not use it on the walls? The classroom building is where the horticultural and food education seminars meet. It provides year-round seed-to-table learning about healthy eating, living, and harvesting land for reuse. The arboretum was looking for a natural material that could be incorporated into an organic setting, something that would last and really speak to their purpose. Ludowici’s terra cotta tiles, essentially coming straight from the earth, offered a natural bridge between the mission and the botanical world. To enhance the connection with the surrounding environment, the Ludowici tiles were fired without glaze mixtures to maintain their natural color. A small amount of surface texture was added prior to firing to develop tiles capable of hosting airborne microorganisms, pollens, and mosses for a purposeful natural look over time. The organic nature of this design goes hand in hand with what Ludowici believes in—the product is sourced from the earth and is a proud contribution to a more sustainable future.
Much of the project’s smooth installation can be credited to Gillespie Contracting and the NeXclad products used. This small module cladding system provides an economical, aesthetically pleasing, and low-maintenance façade in a variety of
textures, colors, and sizes. Its innovation is in the way it’s mechanically attached and smaller in scale, providing several opportunities for customization.
