Over the past few years, in particular, bespoke conservatories have been a particularly desired house extension, as they add a bright extra space to a home, often without the need for planning permission depending on the size and other characteristics of the build.
However, the world’s largest conservatory is the Eden Project in Cornwall, a collection of biome domes that each house thousands of plant and animal species based on different biomes.
It was initially built on a clay pit that had been mined for 160 years and had been used in typical BBC fashion as an alien planet for the TV show The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
In 1996, long after the pit had been closed, plans were put in place, led by Tim Smit, to take this clay pit, effectively devoid of life, and see if they could fill it with life again, inspired by the work of industrial designer Jay Baldwin.
He came up with the idea of creating a geodesic dome using inflated plastic panels rather than glass, which allowed for much larger and more resilient panels than would be possible with glass.
Once construction began in 1998, it was beset by problems owing to the location; because it was built in a clay pit in Cornwall it was prone to heavy rain, causing flooding that had to be rectified before construction could continue.
Astonishingly, however, the visitor’s centre would be completed in just two years, opening in 2000, with the full site and plants being opened in March 2001.
There are two main biomes held inside the domes, of which the biggest is a rainforest environment that is the largest indoor rainforest in the world, whilst the second features a more Mediterranean climate.
It has since become a major landmark and has even starred in the James Bond film Die Another Day, making it also amongst the most famous conservatories in the world.