Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens  Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden set in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a City of Pittsburgh historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens were founded in 1893 by steel and real-estate magnate Henry Phipps as a gift to the City of Pittsburgh. Its purpose is to educate and entertain the people of Pittsburgh with formal gardens (Roman, English, etc.) and various species of exotic plants (palm trees, succulents, bonsai, orchids, etc.). Currently, the facilities house elaborate gardens within the fourteen room conservatory itself and on the adjoining grounds. In addition to its primary flora exhibits, the sophisticated glass and metalwork of the Lord & Burnham conservatory offers an interesting example of Victorian greenhouse architecture. Phipps is one of the "greenest" facilities in the world. The entrance pavilion of the Phipps Conservatory has silver-level LEED certification. Its greenhouse production facility has received Platinum certification, the first and only greenhouse to be so certified. Moreover, the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, designed to be as environmentally sustainable as possible, is also LEED Platinum certified, and produces all of its own energy. The Phipps Conservatory was founded in 1893 as a gift from Henry Phipps, Jr. to the City of Pittsburgh. The Conservatory was designed by Lord & Burnham, for a fee of $100,000. The glasshouse, then consisting of nine display rooms, was completed in August 1893, one year after construction began. On December 7, 1893, the Phipps Conservatory was opened to the public, displaying many plants from the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Sometime after 1910, the first of the Aquatic Gardens was built. A second pool would be installed in 1939. In 1970, the Conservatory was declared a Historic Landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. In 1976, the Phipps Conservatory was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1993, the Phipps Conservatory, which had been run by the City of Pittsburgh since 1893, became a privately managed, while city owned, non-profit organization. In October 2003, Phipps announced an expansion project. The first phase, a green engineered Welcome Center topped by a neo-Victorian dome, was designed by IKM Incorporated, and completed in 2005.