Desert and Mediterranean Conservatories (ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden)

The conservatories belong to the ABQ BioPark, the City of Albuquerque's complex of zoo, aquarium and botanic garden. The Botanic Garden opened in 1996 on a riverside site along the Rio Grande that it shares with the Aquarium, at 2601 Central Avenue NW; the BioPark entry and the Aquarium, completed the same year, were designed by the architect Van H. Gilbert. The glasshouses were entrusted to Ed Mazria of the Santa Fe firm Mazria Riskin Odem, Inc., working with Bradbury Stamm Construction and the landscape architects Design Workshop.

According to the New Mexico Architectural Foundation, the Desert and Mediterranean Conservatories opened in December 1996, alongside the Old World Walled Gardens with their Spanish-Moorish garden; a state architecture guide, however, gives 1998 as their completion date. The garden later added the Sasebo Japanese Garden, four acres designed by Toru Tanaka and opened in 2007, extended in 2009 by a garden within the garden by Ogata Kai.

In 2019 the foundation gave the conservatories its Architecture + Community Award in the category for buildings completed within the previous fifty years. On 12 November 2024 ground was broken for Lebanon and Beyond, a garden blending Lebanese and Mediterranean landscapes with New Mexico's native flora, designed by Didier Design Studio with BioPark staff; the project includes a small extension of the Mediterranean Conservatory intended for gatherings and educational events.

The complex consists of two adjoining pavilions, glazed throughout on an aluminium frame, which together hold about 10,000 square feet (some 930 m²) of planting in two climate-controlled environments. The design is a passive solar one: the architect used different kinds of glazing in different parts of the buildings, carefully positioned vents, masonry heat sinks and suitable insulation, so that each climate is maintained with little or no imported energy.

The Desert pavilion keeps the dry, seasonally hot conditions of the American Southwest and of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, while the Mediterranean pavilion reproduces hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. In winter each side stays 20 to 30 °F (roughly 11 to 17 °C) above Albuquerque's outdoor lows. A state architecture guide accordingly describes them as two solar-powered pavilions.

The Desert Conservatory shows xeric-adapted plants from the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts and from Baja California: saguaro, palo verde, creosote bush, yuccas, elephant trees, jojoba, African milk tree and Baja fairy duster. Temperature and light controls allow these plants to grow and bloom all year round.

The Mediterranean Conservatory gathers the flora of coasts with dry summers and rainy winters, from the Mediterranean Sea, California, south-western Australia, South Africa and coastal Chile. Rockroses, bottlebrushes, olive trees, myrtles, snapdragons, oleanders, mints and sages grow there, along with carob, date palm, cinnamon tree, carnivorous pitcher plants, kangaroo paws and papyrus. This wing also hosts flower shows, among them Bulbs in Bloom and the Orchid Show.

The conservatories stand in the middle of the Botanic Garden at 2601 Central Avenue NW, within the grounds the garden shares with the BioPark Aquarium. Together with the BUGarium they provide the garden's indoor space, which makes them a refuge in cold weather as much as in summer heat. Volunteer docents lead a weekly guided tour from the conservatory entrance, subject to availability.

The surrounding 32-acre garden invites a longer stay: the Sasebo Japanese Garden, the Old World Walled Gardens, the Curandera Garden, the Children's Fantasy Garden, the model railroad garden, a butterfly pavilion open in summer and the heritage farm with its orchards. The neighbouring Aquarium rounds off the visit.