Kew’s new glass palace

Largest Victorian glasshouse reopens after £41 million refit

The Temperate House at Kew Gardens has reopened its doors to the public after a five-year, £41m refit. The gargantuan cast-iron structure, the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world, was officially opened by Sir David Attenborough.

Resplendent in its original cream livery, the Grade I-listed, 190m (623ft) long building was described by Sir David as “a breathtakingly beautiful space”.

The displays showcase 10,000 plants from 1,500 species, from those which are economically important to the rarest species to be found in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. They include a plant of cycad, Encephalartos woodii, brought to Kew in 1899. Dubbed the ‘loneliest plant in the world’, the male plant is the only one of its kind, with no female specimen known to exist.

The various plantings take advantage of the glasshouse’s north-south orientation and the microclimates it creates. The two connecting octagonal houses are being used to display potted seasonal ornamental plants, just as they were in Victorian times. A new changeable information display system will also enable visitors to learn about the different plants. First opened in 1863, the Temperate House took 40 years to complete and previously underwent a partial restoration in the late 1970s. l www.kew.org/kew-gardens/ attractions/temperate-house.