Davies Alpine House, Kew Gardens

What: The creation of the first new glasshouse at Kew Gardens in 20 years. The building will house the UNESCO World Heritage Site's collection of alpine plants. With two back-to-back twin arches the structure is tall enough to draw warm air out of the building naturally, without the need for artificial air conditioning. It achieves this with an air-cooling labyrinth underground, which is encased in a double concrete slab. The design was inspired by the natural cooling strategy used in termite ant nests.

How much: £850,000, funded by a gift from Edwin Davies OBE.

When: Design work started in 2003, construction started at the beginning of 2005 and the building was unveiled on 10 March 2006 by ex-Python Michael Palin.

Contract: JCT

Who: QS: Fanshawe, architect: Wilkinson Eyre, glasshouse engineer: Greenmark International, building services: Atelier 10, structural engineer: Dewhurst Macfarlane, steel & glass contractor: Tuchschmid Constructa AG, groundworks contractor: Killby & Gayford

IN numbers: Footprint: 144m2

Highest point: 10m

Internal area: 157m2

Internal floor area: 96m2

Width (between glass): 10.8m

Length (between glass): 18.4m

Total glass surface area: 358m2

Total number of glass panels: 211

QS's view: "Apart from the technical challenges of building it and making it work, the cost challenges were trying to deliver it for the client's budget. It took from 2003 to 2005 to get a scheme that we could afford, so the cost control was very difficult. A lot of time was spent designing it because it was a complex design: all the brackets and fixings are bespoke. You can't actually see a lot of the building. It's like an iceberg: a lot of it's underground for the natural cooling. From our perspective it was a very time intensive process but it is cutting edge. It's a wonderful project, it does look really good, and I went there with my family on Easter Monday."

- Barry Rose, partner, Fanshawe

Source

QS News