Alpine House at Kew Gardens
Wilkinson Eyre Architects
The Alpine House is a small exhibition space in Kew Gardens featuring plants local to the Alpine regions. The priority design consideration for this building is to recreate environmental conditions which match those characteristic to the alpine climate. Plenty of fresh air and natural daylight are therefore the key elements of the environmental strategy.
DETAILS
LOCATION: ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW, LONDON, UK
DATE: 2005
SERVICES
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
AWARDS
RIBA AWARDS 2006
IStructE AWARD 2006 (shortlisted)
DESIGN WEEK AWARD 2006 (Commendation)
Strategy
The skin of the Alpine House is made of low-iron glass to allow for the highest possible daylight transmission. The floor slab is constructed as a concrete ‘labyrinth’ with a large surface area which is used to blow air through to cool the concrete. This cooling effect is then available as a heat sink during the following day.
The outlets from the labyrinth are positioned within the glasshouse and are designed to direct the air over the leaves of the plants to provide the necessary air movement. Despite the limited size of The Alpine House, Atelier Ten has simulated the
temperature of the air reaching the plants in great detail to ensure that they can grow in the right conditions.
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Links
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
WilkinsonEyre.Architects
Article in Architectureweek
