In July 2013, Denver Botanic Gardens, an institution with a long tradition of commissioning cutting-edge architecture, invited selected architectural practices to submit proposals for a “Science Pyramid,”. The new structure was to provide an exhibition space for the institution’s conservation and research efforts, thereby highlighting the Gardens’ broader mission as a scientific research body.

Faced with the task of designing a transparent pyramid, as specified in the competition brief, the architects of the winning competition entry, BURKETTDESIGN, drew their inspiration from the geological processes causing the ragged rock formations of the nearby mountain ridges. The envelope of the structure was like-wise informed by a biological metaphor and features almost 500 dark gray, hexagonal Swisspearl panels, arranged in a honeycomb pattern and interspersed with thirty photo-voltaic collectors and multiple windows and skylights.