Winter Garden Facts

About the building:

It is designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects - who designed the adjacent Millennium Galleries.
It's 70 metres long, 22 metres wide and the enormous wooden arches are nearly 21 metres high.
It is large enough to accommodate 5,000 domestic greenhouses!
More than 2,100 square metres of glass, 900 cubic metres of concrete and 80 tonnes of steel have been used.
400 tons of topsoil will fill the plant beds - enough to fill almost 4,000 wheelbarrows.
The building has background frost protection to minimum of 4 degrees Celsius.
It's one of the largest Glue Laminate or 'Glulam' buildings in the UK (Glulam is made by forming and gluing strips of timber into specific shapes).
The wood used is Larch, a durable timber which will, over time, turn a light silvery grey colour. The larch, derived from sustainable forests, requires no preservatives or coatings. This reduces the use of solvents and also avoids the use of chemicals that could kill the plants.
It has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system will 'learn' year-on-year.

About the plants:

It's home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world.
The plants have been selected by local consultants, Weddle Landscape Design, for their suitability to growing at lower temperatures and to be pleasing on the eye.
Planting will take account of each variety's likes/tolerances - drought resistant plants will be at the sunny, southern end of the Winter Garden.
There will be 150 species of plants, including big palms from Central America, Madagascar and China.
Before being planted in the Winter Garden the plants were housed in an acclimatisation glasshouse in south east England for almost two years. This was to give them ample time to adjust to light and temperature levels similar to those of the Winter Garden.
Eucalyptus trees and Norfolk Island Pines can grow to over 150 ft high.
Pests will be controlled by removing infested portions of plants and other biological controls.
Watering will be done by hose, watering can and spray - it's the only way to make sure plants get just the right amount of water.

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