Bloedel Conservatory, Botanical garden in Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, Canada

The Bloedel Conservatory is a domed conservatory and aviary at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park. Its triodetic dome, 43 m in diameter and 21 m high, is built from 1,490 plexiglass bubbles and 2,324 pieces of extruded aluminum tubing. Inside, three habitats — tropical rainforest, subtropical rainforest and desert — hold about 500 plant species, over 200 birds and several kinds of tropical fish.

The conservatory was proposed by park superintendent Stuart Lefeaux and deputy Bill Livingstone as a Canadian centennial project. The Bloedel Foundation gave $1.25 million, then the largest gift Vancouver had received, and the dome opened on December 6, 1969. In 2010 the park board voted to close it, but the Friends of the Bloedel raised funds and it merged with VanDusen Botanical Garden.

The conservatory's name honours Prentice Bloedel, whose foundation gave $1.25 million, the largest gift Vancouver had received to that date. He and his wife Virginia, art collectors, also donated Henry Moore's bronze 'Knife Edge - Two Piece', placed by the dome. The Friends of the Bloedel, formed to fight the 2010 closure, won the City of Vancouver Heritage Commission Award of Honour in 2013.

The conservatory operates year-round with extended hours from May through August and shorter hours from October through April. Plan to spend time walking through all three climate zones and watching the birds move freely.

The aluminum dome framework was manufactured in Ottawa and traveled over 3,000 km across Canada before assembly. The dome's construction was completed remarkably quickly once the framework arrived on site.