Type of greenhouse
Palm house
is a term sometimes used for large and high heated display
greenhouses
that specialise in growing
palms
and other tropical and subtropical plants. In
Victorian Britain
, several ornate glass and iron palm houses were built in
botanical gardens
and parks, using
cast iron architecture
. Especially in English-speaking countries outside the
British Isles
, these are often called
conservatories
, in the UK mainly a term for small glass structures attached to houses.
The
large example, completed in 1848
, in
Kew Gardens
, London was arguably the first greenhouse to be built on this scale.
[1]
It was also the first large-scale structural use of
wrought iron
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
The later
Temperate House
at Kew is in fact even larger. Other British examples are at
Liverpool's
Sefton Park
and
Stanley Park
.
[5]
Elsewhere there are the
Franklin Park Conservatory
in
Columbus, Ohio
, the
Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
in Brussels, the
Palmenhaus Schonbrunn
in Vienna, and many others.
The rounded shapes of Kew were often followed in the 19th century. Parts of the iron technology there were borrowed from
shipbuilding
, so the resemblance of many designs to upturned ships in not entirely coincidental. In the 20th century some
pyramidal
designs and
geodesic domes
were adopted. The "Tropical Pyramid" at the
Muttart Conservatory
in
Alberta
(c, 1976) and
Eden Project
in England are respectively examples of these shapes. The term "palm house" tends not to be used, though the function of the buildings remains the same.
History
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The palm house was a stage in the 19th-century development of glass and iron architecture, which was also widely used in railway stations, markets, exhibition halls, and other large buildings needing a large and open internal area.
[6]
The
Anthaeum, Hove
was a very ambitious example, with a huge
cupola
-topped dome covering more than 1.5 acres (0.61 ha). It was planned by
Henry Phillips
as a
visitor attraction
by itself, with
Amon Henry Wilds
as the architect; both were local men from
Brighton and Hove
. However, it collapsed the day before its official opening in 1830.
One of the earliest examples of a palm house is located in the
Belfast Botanic Gardens
. Designed by
Charles Lanyon
, the building was completed in 1840. It was constructed by iron-founder
Richard Turner
, who would later build the Palm House at
Kew
in 1848, to a design by
Decimus Burton
; this is 62 feet high and 362 long. This came shortly after the
Chatsworth Great Conservatory
(1837?40; 67 feet high and 277 long, demolished in 1920) and shortly before
The Crystal Palace
(1851), both designed by
Joseph Paxton
, and both now lost.
[7]
Notes
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References
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External links
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