San Diego 1915: Botanical Building.....

The Botanical Building was located north-east of the Panama-California Exposition's Home Economy Building, and faced El Prado at the end of a long rectangular lagoon. The steel-framed permanent building measured 250-feet in length by 75-feet wide, and was the world's largest wood-lath covered structure. The entrance consisted of two small domed pavilions, connected by a triple-arched arcade, set in front of a central lath-covered dome topped by an octagon-shaped lantern. Immediately in front of the building's entrance arcade was located a small lagoon, filled with lotus and water lilies, abutted by a balustraded bridge ornamented by large decorative urns. Arched windows, deeply set into a stuccoed facade, surrounded the structure; and a spacious glass-roofed conservatory extended north from the building's large central dome. Within the main redwood-lath covered structure were planted a variety of palms, ferns, bamboo, vines, flowers, and many other plants found throughout Central and South America; while in the heated conservatory was situated a large pool filled with delicate water-lilies, surrounded by numerous varieties of exotic tropical plants.