The Palm House is a large

palm house Palm house is a term sometimes used for large and high heated display greenhouses that specialise in growing arecaceae, palms and other tropical and subtropical plants. In Victorian era, Victorian Britain, several ornate glass and iron palm house ...

in the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

, in London, that specialises in growing palms and other tropical and subtropical plants. It was completed in 1848. Many of its plants are endangered or extinct in the wild. Features include an upper walkway, taking the visitor into the branches of the larger plants. Kew also has the even larger " Temperate House", kept at lower temperatures. Initially built as status symbols in

Victorian Britain In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

, several examples of ornate glass and iron

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s, often but not always called "the Palm House", can still be found in

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

s and parks such as

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Sefton Park Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a conservation district of the same name, It is the largest public park in Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region. Suburbs neighbouring the park include Toxteth, Aigb ...

and

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

, and in other countries. The Palm House was the first greenhouse to be built on this scale. It was also the first large-scale structural use of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

.Das Grosse Palmenhaus im Schlosspark Schönbrunn
Vienna Federal Gardens. Palmenhaus Schönbrunn – Revitalisation
Waagner-Biro.

History

One of the earliest examples of a palm house is located in the

Belfast Botanic Gardens Botanic Gardens is a public garden in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Occupying of south Belfast, the gardens are popular with office workers, students and tourists. They are located on Stranmillis Road in Queen's Quarter, with Queen's Univers ...

. Designed by

Charles Lanyon Sir Charles Lanyon Deputy Lieutenant, DL, Justice of the Peace, JP (6 January 1813 – 31 May 1889) was an English Architecture, architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland. Biography Lanyo ...

, the building was completed in 1840. It was constructed by the iron-maker Richard Turner, who would later build the Palm House at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

. Sir William J. Hooker was appointed Director of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew in 1841. As part of his plan to improve its image, Sir William asked

Decimus Burton Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Reg ...

to draw up preliminary sketches of a new Palm House for review in 1844. Decimus and Nicole Burton completed the design, although Richard Turner was primarily involved. It was built between 1844 and 1848. After an interview with Sir William, Turner submitted his plans along with an estimate of the cost to the Board of Works. The Board of Works, in turn, asked Burton to review Turner's plans. Burton initially disagreed with Turner's original plans, which adopted the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

he had used in his prior works. Burton preferred the

Neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

which informed the design of the Palm House. Burton did take notice of Turner's decisions over which plants should be planted where. Turner knew of greenhouses' "problems of heating, ventilation, and structural" issues. Palms in Palm House atrium

According to some accounts, Turner sent his plan of the Palm House to the ''Building News''. Thomas Drew also wrote to the ''Building News'' claiming "to have an authoritative statement from Turner...”" He claimed that "the Palm House was not only erected by him but was solely his design, although varied out under the supervision of Mr. Decimus Burton". Until 2019 an aquarium below the Palm House housed recreations of natural marine ecosystems, such as mangroves, estuaries, and rock pools, as well as freshwater displays.

Maintenance

In 1881, according to the "Report on The Process and Condition of The Royal Gardens at Kew", the flowerbeds in front of the building were redone and gravel paths were removed. The flowers at the back of the Palm House and the low areas required modified drainage.

Record Plant

The Palm House is host to the oldest pot plant in the world (an

Encephalartos altensteinii ''Encephalartos altensteinii'' is a species of palm-like cycad in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to South Africa. The species name ''altensteinii'' commemorates Altenstein, a 19th-century German chancellor and patron of science. It is comm ...

) which was moved to the Palm House in 1848.

References

{{Coord, 51, 28, 45, N, 00, 17, 34, W, display=title Decimus Burton buildings Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Greenhouses in the United Kingdom Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew