The Palm House is a Grade I listed building in the Richmond upon Thames local planning authority area, England. First listed on 10 January 1950. Greenhouse.
The Palm House
- WRENN ID
- distant-wall-foxglove
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Richmond upon Thames
- Constituency
- Richmond Park MP: Sarah Olney (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 10 January 1950
- Type
- Greenhouse
- Address
- The Palm House, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Kew Green, TW9 3AB
- OS grid reference
- TQ 186 769
- Coordinates
- 51.47907, -0.29275
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Palm House, located in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, was built between 1844 and 1848. It was designed by engineer Richard Turner from Dublin, with architect Decimus Burton. This structure is made of iron and glass, featuring a continuously curved roof. It is considered one of the boldest examples of 19th-century functionalism. The building measures 362 feet in length, with a central height of 67 feet and wings that rise to 33 feet. Inside, there is a central oblong chamber with a double curved glass roof that covers the "nave" and "aisles," and it has apsidal ends. Each long side has a central entrance with glass barrel vaults, and the interior is galleried.
Local climate
The Palm House sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 90% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 30 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 64% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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