Inside Davies Alpine House new glasshouse opened March 2006 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Richmond Surrey England Britain UK Europe
The Davies Alpine House, a striking new glasshouse providing the new public face for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's internationally renowned alpine collection, was formally opened on 10 March 2006. The 2006 RIBA Award winning landmark building, designed by twice-Stirling Prize winning architects Wilkinson Eyre, is the first new glasshouse to be constructed at the World Heritage Site for over 20 years and continues the remarkable tradition of innovative, high-quality glasshouses at Kew Gardens. The elegant glass structure, a building of significant presence and unusual form, will provide the best possible environment for alpine plant growth. Set within the existing rock garden, the new glasshouse will dramatically increase the profile and visitor experience of the collection in an appropriate setting. The Davies Alpine House's shape and geometry have been designed to create the complex environmental conditions necessary for alpine growth through passive means, providing a sustainable, energy-efficient growing environment for the plants. Two back-to-back ‘twin arches' create the height required to draw warm air out of the building, despite its footprint of just 144m squared. An innovative shading solution, developed using yacht technology and based on a fan-like form similar to a peacock's tail, will keep summer temperatures at the required levels. Below ground, air is cooled in a labyrinth within a double concrete slab, inspired by the natural cooling strategy utilised in termite ant nests. This cooled air is then re-circulated around the perimeter of the house and onto the low level plants. The building will raise the profile of Kew's alpine collection, creating a gateway to the rock garden and a new focal point for this part of the site. Kew 's plantsmen have selected from a huge variety of campanulas, dianthus, small ferns, helichrysum, small lavenders, primulas, saxifrage, thymes, tulips, and verbascums – plus m
Size: 5501px × 3682px
Photo credit: © Nick Hanna / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: biological, biology, botanic, botanical, climate, climatic, collections, conditions, conservation, cultivate, cultivation, development, diversity, educate, education, enjoying, environment, environmental, estate, expert, extraordinary, famous, flora, garden, gardening, gardens, green, greenery, growing, growth, herbage, heritage, historic, history, horticulturalists, horticulture, kew, landmark, landscape, landscapes, landscaping, life, living, nursery, organis, outstanding, patronage, people, plant, plants, research, residence, royal, royalty, science, scientific, site, specimens, status, structure, sustainable, tradition, unesco, vegetation, verdure, work, world, zones
