Botanic bliss: The UK’s best glasshouses
Daniel Langstaff takes us on a lockdown tour of the most spectacular glasshouse architecture in the United Kingdom.
From the Ancient Romans growing cucumbers on wheeled pushcarts following the sun to the under-floor heating systems detailed in Korea in the 1400s, growing plants in environmentally-controlled areas is hardly a new idea. Glasshouses became larger and more ornate over time until their boom in the Victorian period, where the elite flexed their wealth by building these fashionable structures. If lockdown has you longing for nature, I’ve rounded up some of the best and most beautiful glasshouses starting off in London and branching out to the rest of the UK.
Source: Unsplash
Kew Gardens Temperate House, London
Housing over 10,000 individual plants of 1,500 species, this Grade I listed building designed by Decimus Burton is one of the most famous in the world. The highest point of the Temperate House’s glass roof sits at a staggering 19 meters, and the glasshouse houses the world’s ‘loneliest plant’, of which species only one other has been found in the wild.
Sky Garden, London
This hidden garden and viewing deck housed on the 43rd floor of the Viñoly designed ‘Walkie Talkie’ (formally known as 20 Fenchurch Street) is possibly the highest point at which you can experience nature in the whole of London. It’s completely free to visit (just book ahead online) and has views of St Paul’s, the Gherkin, the Shard, Tower Bridge and the Thames. Housed within the Sky Garden are their upmarket eateries, the Darwin Brasserie and Fenchurch Restaurant alongside bars on each side of the foliage.
Source: Unsplash
Source: Unsplash
The Barbican Conservatory, London
The Barbican estate is a brutalist gem in the City of London. Get off at the tube stop with the matching name and walk to the centre of the development to uncover this lush greenhouse sitting in the concrete jungle of the surroundings. Tours are offered for £12.50 to learn about the plants, people and place’s history, or you can visit for free and take yourself around. The Japanese koi ponds dotted throughout the conservatory are a highlight along with the separate cactus hothouse.
The Palm House, Edinburgh Botanic Gardens
Up in Scotland is the Palm House, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. This Victorian masterpiece was opened in 1858 and features a magnificent curved glass roof which soars above the various plants below. Featured within the glasshouse is a collection of giant bamboo, which can grow from ground to roof in under 5 weeks - that’s the same distance as two and a half London buses!
Source: Unsplash
Source: Unsplash
The Winter Garden, Sheffield
This interesting development in the city centre is one of the largest glasshouses to be built in the UK in the last century. The most striking feature is the huge arched roof comprised of 21 parabolic arches of laminated wood strips inspired by heritage train stations and English shopping arcades. The highest point of the roof is a whopping 22 meters high!
The Great Palm House, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Dublin
The second palm-focused glasshouse on this list, part of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, is located in Dublin. Costing £800 to build in 1884, this piece of architecture was actually shipped over to Ireland in pieces and assembled on-site like a piece of Victorian Ikea furniture.
Source: Unsplash
Source: Unsplash
The Eden Project, Cornwall
The Eden Project is a prime example of hi-tech architecture, inspired by the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller. The project sits in the landscape like some sort of alien housing complex, while the two ‘biome buildings’ house the variety of plants on show. This piece of architecture actually holds the Guinness World Record for the 230 miles of scaffolding to take this from architect’s sketches to the perplexing real-world building seen today.
The Kibble Palace, Glasgow Botanic Gardens
Back up in Scotland (in Glasgow this time) is The Kibble Palace. The architect, John Kibble, originally built this near his home at Loch Long. Later, he got the entire structure moved around 30 miles to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. In 2004, a £7 million renovation project meant that the building had to be once again completely dismantled and - this time - moved to Yorkshire and back for maintenance works. This piece of stunning Victorian architecture may take the prize for the most travelled greenhouse in the UK!
Source: https://i1.wp.com/ntcs.org.uk/
Source: https://www.fosterandpartners.com/
The Great Glasshouse, National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Llanarthne
Foster and Partners, the architecture firm responsible for many iconic London landmarks including the Gherkin and Canary Wharf Tube Station, designed this monumental glasshouse for the National Botanic Gardens of Wales. Named ‘The Great Glasshouse’, this building is the largest single-spanning structure of its kind in the world and measures 99 by 55 metres. Inside, over 1,000 Mediterranean plant species are housed and it’s specifically climate controlled using a complex computer system which opens and closes the roof windows automatically.
Honorary Mention: Notre Dame Glasshouse Roof Proposal, NAB Architects
Last on this list is a glasshouse that neither exists in real life nor in the UK. After the tragic fire of Notre Dame, a design brief was published allowing architecture firms to submit responses and project proposals. One of the most notable (but unsuccessful) proposals was this, a huge rooftop glasshouse stretching across the entire charred roof of the French Gothic icon. In this design, the burnt oak supports from the original structure are used to create planters for the nature inside and the spire houses around 20,000 honey bees for pollination. This project tackles the notions of traditionality and modernity, along with a sustainable ethos that we should be adopting moving forward into the future.
Source: https://static.dezeen.com/