AEWORLDMAP.COM (3,000+ posts)

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Building: The Great Glasshouse
Location: Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK
Client: National Botanic Garden of Wales

Started: 1995
Completed: 2000
Area: 5,800m²
Cost: £8,940,800 (Around $9,590,528)
Architect: Foster + Partners

Landscape Architect: Gustafson Porter
Structural Engineer: Anthony Hunt Associates
Environmental Engineer: Max Fordham & Partners

AE Interests: The Great Glasshouse is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world, with a glazed roof with a length of 99 meters and a width of 55 meters. Prime example of sustainability in design by the consideration for rainwater collection and biomass boiler usage to burn timber trimmings as the greenhouse’s primary heat source. A computer system monitors the climate of the inside and outside of the glass and reacts to exterior conditions by adjusting individual glazing panels’ angles to minimize energy consumption when controlling the interior climate. The dome is supported by tubular steel beams and aluminum glazing that maximizes light transmission for the plants it houses while minimizing the necessity of materials for the project.

Articles: [1, 2, 3, 4]

Essay

*Original post by Cristina Calderon on January 26, 2010