It's the end of the season for most UK gardeners. Clean up the autumn leaves, batten down the hatches and look forward to spring. So if you are missing fresh green growth already a day out at Sheffields' Winter Gardens might be just the thing.
Sheffields' impressive multi award-winning Winter Garden is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years and has created a stunning green space with more than 2,500 plants from around the world. With direct access from Millennium Galleries and Millennium Square, the Winter Garden is the perfect oasis in the heart of England's fourth largest city.
The building itself is 70 metres long and 22 metres high (large enough to house 5000 domestic greenhouses). The building has background frost protection to minimum of 4 degrees Celsius and it is one of the largest Glued Laminated Timber 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 be damagng to the plants and the greater environment. 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.
More info here - http://www.welcometosheffield.co.uk
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