Officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 22 May 2003, Sheffield's Winter Garden [1] is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years. It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world

Part of the £120m Heart of the City regeneration project that has created the Peace Gardens and the £15m Millennium Galleries, the Winter Gardens were designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects and are some 70 metres long and 21 metres high.

According to the Sheffield City Council [2]: "The building has background frost protection to minimum of 4 degrees Celsius and it's one of the largest Glue Laminate or 'Glulam' buildings in the UK (Glulam is made by forming and gluing strips of timber into specific shapes). The wood used is Larch, a durable timber which will, over time, turn a light silvery grey colour. The larch, derived from sustainable forests, requires no preservatives or coatings. This reduces the use of solvents and also avoids the use of chemicals that could kill the plants. It has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system will 'learn' year-on-year".

External link

Winter Garden pages on Sheffield City Council's website