A fragment of a greenhouse to express their importance in the development of the European garden.
The building, designed in 1992, is conceived as a reference library and research centre on plants as well as a public performance space for theatre, conferences, exhibitions and other municipal events. It has also been conceived to be a peaceful sheltered space and a tea house in the garden project designed by the landscape artist Kathryn Gustafson.
The greenhouse leans symbolically against the hill. Its clear glass flat roof reflects, like a lake, the changing sky and the foliage of the surrounding trees. The glass fixing is the world’s first application of a structural connection within the interlayer of laminated glass, allowing the top surface to be only glass.
The steep incline of the site, and the need to retain the soil in the garden led to the idea of using ‘gabion’ - steel mesh cages holding stones - for the greenhouse walls. The greenhouse gabions are freestanding vertical cantilevers, and allow the building to “breathe” naturally. Internally, this wall is lined by citrus trees. The building fabric creates its own internal micro-climate throughout the year. Energy Consumption is minimal.
The concept sought to highlight the contrast between a highly processed and sophisticated building material and the unprocessed stone from the local quarry. The use of gabions as a primary building element is thought to be the world’s first such application. The new 5 hectare park and the greenhouse opened to the general public in spring 1996.
This project was short listed for the Design Sense Award 2000, the annual International Award for Sustainable Design and Architecture. This award is run by the Design Museum London and sponsored by Corus and supported by the Rufford Foundation.
The building received a US Benedictus Award in 1997, a RIBA Award, and the first Stephen Lawrence Award in 1998.