HBA were appointed to design and obtain consents for a new Victorian style glasshouse capable of housing tropical, Mediterranean and native plants in a three zone building. To make matters more complicated the building was also to act as a function space for both summer and winter parties and needed to be as free as possible from internal structure. The client was also keen to have an open fireplace in the glasshouse to provide additional heating for the plants during hard winters.
The work was carried out in collaboration with Foster and Pearson of Sussex and required extremely large sections of Canadian Hemlock to be used imported specially for its resistance to moisture. Every fitting was tailor made for the building with cast iron and bronze components cast specially and bronze shipwrights screws imported from the USA.
The attention to detail is difficult to illustrate in images as it is intended to recede into the background allowing the plants to take center stage.
