Sheffield Winter Garden in South Yorkshire is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, and the largest urban glasshouse anywhere in Europe. It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world.
The gardens were opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 May 2003 as part of the £120 million Heart of the City regeneration project, which also created Sheffield's Peace Gardens and the Millennium Gallery.
The Winter Garden was designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects and Buro Happold and is 70 metres (77 yd) long and 21 metres (23 yd) high.
The building has background frost protection to 4 degrees Celsius, and it is one of the largest Glued Laminated Timber 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, 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.
The bedding plants are changed five times a year, to give a seasonal change, and all the plants are watered by hose or by watering can, as it is the only way to ensure that all the plants get the correct amount of water.
Although this isn't a huge building, the indoor planting is so colourful it's well worth a visit when in Sheffield. It's also a lovely spot to avoid the bitter winter winds in the city, have a coffee and relax while looking at the flowers and plants.
All photos taken by me; winter garden facts by Wikipedia.
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Until the next post, Nikki the MaskedBlogger. x