The Great Glass House - National Botanic Gardens of Wales. - Architecture Prizes on Waymarking.com

This spectacular dome is the largest single span glasshouse in the world, Poised on the Welsh landscape like a giant oval raindrop, it protects and conserves some of the most endangered plants on the planet.

To give you some idea of the awesome scale & size of the 'Great Glass House' Each of the 784 panes of glass weigh about 1 Ton (2,240 pounds) & each sheet of glass is approximatetly 20 feet long.
Interesting Fact; Each pane of glass is unique, & slightly curved to fit the space it is in. It is said without modern computers it would have been impossible to build.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales, Created within a beautiful Regency 200 year old park, is a landmark visitor destination with historical features and spectacular modern architecture, it features a stunning, massive glasshouse, designed by the World famous, Norman Foster and Partners.

From space it looks like a giant oval gemstone.
A great Ariel view can be found on the Virtual Globetrotter Website; (visit link)

"The Great Glass House is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world. It reinvents the glasshouse for the twenty-first century, offering a model of sustainable development. Elliptical in plan, the building swells from the ground like a glassy hillock, echoing the undulations of the surrounding landscape." Text adapted from; (visit link)

"The plants in this glasshouse come from six areas of the world: California, Australia, the Canary Islands, Chile, South Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Great Glasshouse is zoned to reflect these geographical areas that have regions that enjoy a Mediterranean climate. Hot dry summers, cool moist winters, dazzling sunlight, strong breezes and the occasional ground-clearing fire create perfect conditions for many plants to thrive on the scrubby, rock-strewn landscapes. In fact, it’s so perfect that most of these plants grow nowhere else on Earth. Although these regions cover less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, they contain more than 20% of all known flowering plant species, and their richness and plant diversity are considered second only in importance to tropical habitats. Largely due to human activity, these precious habitats are now as threatened as the rainforests, and our Great Glasshouse is dedicated to conserving their endangered plants." Text Source; (visit link) & (visit link)

Architect: Sir Norman Foster Prize received: Pritzker Architecture Prize In what year: 1999 Website about the Architect: [Web Link] Website about the building: [Web Link]

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