Back to their roots at Kew’s historic glasshouse

RARE PLANTS are to start returning to their home in the world’s biggest Victorian glasshouse as a £41m restoration project continues at Kew Gardens.

The Grade I-listed Temperate House at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has been undergoing a five-year restoration project to repair the framework, thousands of panes of glass, urns and sculptures and install a new heating system.

Work will begin in the next few weeks to replant important and critically endangered plant species from the Mediterranean, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, and the Pacific Islands.

Planting is set to continue for several months ahead of the reopening of the Temperate House to the public next May.

The glasshouse, which first opened to the public in 1863, features fine Victorian metalwork, including spiral stairs and sculptures, but, over time, the cool moist conditions had led to deterioration of the structure.

The roof windows no longer opened, threatening plant life in the glasshouse.

By the time it is complete, the restoration will have seen the removal, tagging, cleaning and repair of 69,151 individual elements, used 110 miles of scaffolding and 5,280 litres of paint, and painted a total area equal to four football pitches.

The work will guarantee optimum growing conditions for plants while opening up the central space to create vistas through the plants, Kew Gardens said.

The project is the first significant restoration of the world’s largest Victorian greenhouse since the 1970s and has used more than 5,000 litres of paint.

Funding for the project has come from grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, charitable foundations and trusts.

A public appeal launched in 2011 raised £15m to help meet the cost.