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The Princess of Wales Conservatory |
In keeping with Kew's long history of royal connections, the name of the newest and most complex glasshouse commemorates both Diana, Princess of Wales, and one of her predecessors, Princess Augusta, the mother of George III, who founded the botanic gardens at Kew in 1759. The Great Stove, which she had built to display her latest acquisitions of exotic plants, stood close to the site of this new tropical conservatory.
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The Princess of Wales Conservatory, with a floor space of 4490 m2 under a single multispan roof, replaces 26 individual houses, which by the end of the 1960s were showing considerable structural deterioration. Within the new house, the ten different environmental zones provide the opportunity to improve the cultivation and display conditions for Kew's collection of tropical herbaceous plants. Two major zones encompass the wet and dry tropics, with smaller areas holding species with specialised environmental requirements. After a design brief had been prepared, the Property Services Agency appointed Gordon Wilson as architect and project manager in 1976, and construction on site began in 1984. Internal landscaping of the house was undertaken by Kew's horticultural staff, using 450 tonnes of rock and 1,000 tonnes of compost, and the first plants were introduced in January 1986. The Conservatory was officially opened by HRH The Princess of Wales on 28 July 1987. |
| Victoria 'Longwood hybrid' growing in the Princess of Wales Conservatory |
Many innovative design and engineering features are incorporated into the building, with a fundamental requirement being energy conservation. The house has been built without side walls, with most of its space below ground level, and with the hottest zones located in the centre of the structure. Its volume is low in relation to its floor area, so temperatures can be altered more rapidly. The conditions within each zone are continually monitored by a computer, which adjusts the heating, misting, ventilation and lighting systems accordingly to ensure maximum efficiency in use of fuel and water.
The south-facing vertical walls of the Conservatory allow deep penetration of winter light, whilst the higher light of the summer is partially reflected from the shallowly angled east-west sloping roofs, thus providing some protection for the delicate plants against sun-scorch.
In the arid zone, at the southern end of the house, succulent plants from desert areas of the world are grown. Some of the cacti and agaves are displayed against the desert backdrop of the Sherman Hoyt diorama. Sited close by are the African euphorbias and aloes, highlighting the similarities in adaptations for survival in dry conditions. The living stones (Lithops) can scarcely be detected until their brightly coloured flowers appear, so well are they camouflaged against the stony ground.
An enclosed section of the arid zone, which is watered sparingly during the winter, houses plants from the seasonally dry tropics of East Africa - the savannah. The species here, such as the baobab (Adansonia digitata) with its thick water-storing trunk, and the acacias which shed their leaves during the dry season, illustrate the features that enable them to withstand the dry season in their native habitats.
Also in the arid zone are collections of the endemic plants of the Canary Islands and Madagascar, many of which are threatened due to the destruction of their wild habitats. These plants highlight the important role of Kew's collections as a conservation resource.
In the wet tropics zone, the atmospheric humidity is maintained at a much higher level, providing the appropriate conditions for species from moist tropical forests. The marantas, with their attractive patterned leaves, are typical of the forest floor vegetation, being able to tolerate low light levels. Amongst the other plant families on display are the Araceae (aroids), the Gesneriaceae and the Begoniaceae. Some species from these families are instantly recognisable as popular house plants, such as the Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa), the African violets (Saintpaulia) and the begonias. Economic plants found in this zone include bananas (Musa), pineapple (Ananas comosus), pepper (Piper nigrum) and ginger (Zingiber).
In Victorian times, one of the most popular sights at Kew was the giant Amazonian waterlily (Victoria amazonica). The large central pond of the Conservatory containing the hybrid giant waterlily (Victoria 'Longwood hybrid') is still a great attraction. The waterlily has huge leaves (up to 2 m in diameter) and attractive flowers that change colour from white to deep pink over 24-36 hours as they age. Around the pond, the waterlogged soil provides ideal conditions for growing mangroves.
Surprisingly, the wet tropical zone also provides the ideal conditions for a desert plant - the rare Welwitschia mirabilis from the Namib Desert. This plant with its long narrow twisted leaves obtains most of its moisture from sea mists off the Atlantic, so it benefits from the high atmospheric humidity in this zone. Other species which require particularly humid conditions are the plants from cloud forests and an enclosed, cool, shaded area where the humidity is maintained at above 85 per cent is set aside for them.
The carnivorous plants, including pitcher plants (Sarracenia and Nepenthes) and Venus fly traps (Dionaea spp.), are housed in a cool well lit area on the east side of the Conservatory. Ferns and orchids each have two zones with the species divided into groups on the basis of their temperature requirements. In the tropical orchid zone, epiphytic orchids from the rainforest canopy, some with beautiful showy flowers, exhibit their adaptations to an aerial environment, whilst in the temperate orchid zone various terrestrial species are shown. Amongst the tropical ferns are the imposing stag's horn ferns (Platycerium).
A more formal floral display at the northern end of the Conservatory contains decorative flowering and foliage plants, which are frequently renewed so that they provide colour and interest throughout the year.
Outside the Conservatory, landscaping of the surrounding areas ensures that it blends into the Rock and Woodland gardens to the south and east, whilst on the western and northern sides it is surrounded by the mature trees of the arboretum. Around the patio areas and water features, colourful summer bedding and herbaceous plants provide a suitable frame.
The collection of living plants in the Conservatory forms part of an invaluable reference collection. It is also a bank of genetic resources for conservation purposes (several plants in the Conservatory are threatened with extinction in their natural habitats) and for crop development. The importance of such collections was emphasised in March 1985 when Sir David Attenborough buried a 'Seeds of the Future' capsule, prepared under the auspices of the World Wildlife Fund Plants Campaign, at the southern end of the Conservatory. The glass globe contains seeds of basic food crops and endangered species, many of which may have disappeared from the wild by the time that the capsule is exhumed in 2085.
The Conservatory is also an important education facility, both for members of the public and Kew staff.