An atlas of glass architecture

The world built cathedrals for its plants.

Verrière catalogues the greenhouses that shaped the history of botany and glass engineering, from the Victorian Crystal Palace to the cloud forests of Singapore.

1157Greenhouses catalogued
76Countries
6Continents
×1

Drag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom · double-click to dive in

The collection

1157 greenhouses

Europe (630)

Gondwanaland, Leipzig Zoo, Leipzig, Saxony
2011

Gondwanaland

🇩🇪 Leipzig Zoo, Leipzig, Saxony
Beneath a roof spanning 154 m, boats follow the Gamanil river through the forests of three continents.
GermanyView entry →
Temperate House, Kew, London
1860–1899

Temperate House

🇬🇧 Kew, London
The largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world.
United KingdomView entry →
Fata Morgana Greenhouse (skleník Fata Morgana), Prague, Troja
2004

Fata Morgana Greenhouse (skleník Fata Morgana)

🇨🇿 Prague, Troja
An S-shaped ribbon 130 metres long, backed by the rock of the Troja hillside, running through three tropical climates.
Czech RepublicView entry →
Barbican Conservatory, London, England
1984

Barbican Conservatory

🇬🇧 London, England
An indoor rainforest perched on level 3 of the Barbican, built to wrap around the theatre's fly tower.
United KingdomView entry →
Equatorial Dome, ZooParc de Beauval, Saint-Aignan, Centre-Val de Loire
2017–2020

Equatorial Dome, ZooParc de Beauval

🇫🇷 Saint-Aignan, Centre-Val de Loire
A 38 m glass dome opened in 2020: a steel frame of about 1,000 tonnes shelters an equatorial forest and close to 25,000 animals.
FranceView entry →
Randers Regnskov (Tropical Zoo), Randers
1996

Randers Regnskov (Tropical Zoo)

🇩🇰 Randers
A zoo built entirely under glass domes, devoted to the tropical forests of Asia, Africa and America.
DenmarkView entry →
Grandes Serres du Jardin des Plantes, Paris, Île-de-France
1834–1836

Grandes Serres du Jardin des Plantes

🇫🇷 Paris, Île-de-France
Rohault de Fleury's two cast-iron and glass pavilions, designed from 1834, mark the beginning of metal architecture in France.
FranceView entry →
Palm House, Kew, London
1844–1848

Palm House

🇬🇧 Kew, London
The technical cradle of every great glasshouse that followed.
United KingdomView entry →

North America (196)

Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory (The Domes), Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1964

Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory (The Domes)

🇺🇸 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Three glass beehive domes, a modernist icon of Milwaukee, now under threat from age.
United StatesView entry →
Longwood Gardens West Conservatory, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
2024

Longwood Gardens West Conservatory

🇺🇸 Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
The largest construction project in Longwood Gardens' history, with a roof and walls that open according to the weather.
United StatesView entry →
Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, Detroit, Michigan
1904

Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory

🇺🇸 Detroit, Michigan
The dome, originally timber-framed, was rebuilt in steel and aluminium in 1949 and reglazed in a renovation completed in 2024.
United StatesView entry →
Biltmore Estate Conservatory, Asheville, North Carolina
1895

Biltmore Estate Conservatory

🇺🇸 Asheville, North Carolina
Vanderbilt's estate conservatory, completed in 1895 at the foot of the walled garden, has a forty-foot palm room and more than five hundred orchids.
United StatesView entry →
Frick Greenhouse (The Frick Pittsburgh, Clayton estate), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1897

Frick Greenhouse (The Frick Pittsburgh, Clayton estate)

🇺🇸 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The greenhouse built in 1897 for Henry Clay Frick's estate, designed by Alden & Harlow with the glasshouse builders Lord & Burnham.
United StatesView entry →
Marco Polo Stufano Conservatory (Wave Hill), Bronx, New York
1906–1907

Marco Polo Stufano Conservatory (Wave Hill)

🇺🇸 Bronx, New York
Built in 1906 for the financier George W. Perkins, the glasshouse was rebuilt in 1969, keeping only its original portico.
United StatesView entry →
Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota
1915

Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

🇺🇸 Saint Paul, Minnesota
One of the last great Victorian 'Crystal Palace' greenhouses still standing in the United States.
United StatesView entry →
Osher Rainforest (California Academy of Sciences), San Francisco, California
2008

Osher Rainforest (California Academy of Sciences)

🇺🇸 San Francisco, California
Beneath the living roof of Renzo Piano's museum, a 27-metre glass sphere holds a tropical rainforest rising through four levels.
United StatesView entry →

South America (17)

Invernáculo of the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden, Buenos Aires
1889 · 1897

Invernáculo of the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires
Award-winning at the Paris World's Fair before crossing the Atlantic.
ArgentinaView entry →
Dr. Frederico Carlos Hoehne Greenhouses (São Paulo Botanical Garden), São Paulo, State of São Paulo
1928–1929

Dr. Frederico Carlos Hoehne Greenhouses (São Paulo Botanical Garden)

🇧🇷 São Paulo, State of São Paulo
Twin greenhouses with an iron frame from England, at the very origin of the São Paulo Botanical Garden, one devoted to the Atlantic Forest.
BrazilView entry →
Orchid House, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, Rio de Janeiro

Orchid House, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro
A micro-orchid section comes with magnifying glasses, so visitors can see flowers barely two millimetres across.
BrazilView entry →
Ruth Cardoso Orchid House (Orquidário Ruth Cardoso, Villa-Lobos Park), São Paulo, Parque Villa-Lobos (Alto de Pinheiros)
2010

Ruth Cardoso Orchid House (Orquidário Ruth Cardoso, Villa-Lobos Park)

🇧🇷 São Paulo, Parque Villa-Lobos (Alto de Pinheiros)
Designed by Decio Tozzi in the spirit of an Indigenous oca, this orchid house reopened in 2026 after about ten years of closure.
BrazilView entry →
Orchid House, Institute of Botany, São Paulo
1928

Orchid House, Institute of Botany

🇧🇷 São Paulo
Some 18,000 pots of orchids held as a scientific collection, including many threatened Brazilian species.
BrazilView entry →
Plant Conservatory, Parque Isidora Cousiño (Lota Park), Lota, Biobío Region

Plant Conservatory, Parque Isidora Cousiño (Lota Park)

🇨🇱 Lota, Biobío Region
A glass-walled conservatory, once heated by coal and wood, shelters orchids, ferns and a breadfruit tree from Java in Lota's historic park.
ChileView entry →
Palacete de Cristal, Irmãos Villas-Bôas Botanical Garden, Sorocaba, State of São Paulo

Palacete de Cristal, Irmãos Villas-Bôas Botanical Garden

🇧🇷 Sorocaba, State of São Paulo
A 500 m² glass palace on a metal frame, modelled on the crystal palaces of London, Petrópolis and Curitiba.
BrazilView entry →
Estufa do Jardim Botânico de Curitiba, Curitiba, Paraná
1991

Estufa do Jardim Botânico de Curitiba

🇧🇷 Curitiba, Paraná
Three iron-and-glass domes inspired by the Crystal Palace, now the defining image of Curitiba.
BrazilView entry →

Africa (8)

Pearson Conservatory (St George's Park), Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape
1882

Pearson Conservatory (St George's Park)

🇿🇦 Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape
A Scottish-made Victorian conservatory shipped in kit form to the Eastern Cape, its cast iron original but its timber replaced in the 2009-2011 rebuild.
South AfricaView entry →
Jardin d'Essai du Hamma, Algiers
1832

Jardin d'Essai du Hamma

🇩🇿 Algiers
Served as a filming location for 'Tarzan the Ape Man' in 1932.
AlgeriaView entry →
Botanical Society Conservatory (Kirstenbosch), Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town
1997

Botanical Society Conservatory (Kirstenbosch)

🇿🇦 Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town
Around a baobab, each bed of this 1997 conservatory recreates a southern African region using that region's own rocks.
South AfricaView entry →
2025

Tropical Display House

🇿🇦 Durban
Opened in October 2025, this tropical house took over from the historic Ernest Thorp Orchid House, closed after the 2022 floods.
South AfricaView entry →
1868–1871

Historic Greenhouses of the Zohria Garden (Hadiqat al-Zohriya)

🇪🇬 Zamalek, Cairo
Created in 1868 by Khedive Ismail, this acclimatisation garden keeps old iron-and-glass greenhouses in the heart of Zamalek.
EgyptView entry →

Royal Greenhouse (al-Sawba al-Malakiyya), Antoniadis Gardens

🇪🇬 Antoniadis Gardens, Alexandria
A large wrought-iron and glass greenhouse, restored in Alexandria's Antoniadis Gardens, where tropical and rare plants can be seen.
EgyptView entry →
1934

Royal Greenhouse (al-Sawba al-Malakiyya), Montaza Palace Gardens

🇪🇬 Montaza Palace Gardens, Alexandria
Built by King Fuad I in 1934, a glass-roofed greenhouse holding tropical and shade plants at the far end of the Montaza park.
EgyptView entry →
1922

Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden Glasshouses

🇿🇦 Stellenbosch, Western Cape
A Welwitschia sown in 1926 by the first curator still grows in its original spot, in an arid house that has since been rebuilt twice.
South AfricaView entry →

Asia (273)

Donggung Botanical Garden, Gyeongju Donggungwon (경주동궁원 동궁식물원), Gyeongju (Bomun tourist complex), North Gyeongsang
2013

Donggung Botanical Garden, Gyeongju Donggungwon (경주동궁원 동궁식물원)

🇰🇷 Gyeongju (Bomun tourist complex), North Gyeongsang
A glasshouse crowned with golden chimi and lotus-patterned tiles, recalling the Silla palace where rare flowers and birds were kept.
South KoreaView entry →
Forsgate Conservatory, Hong Kong
1991

Forsgate Conservatory

🇭🇰 Hong Kong
Three climates under glass nestled among the skyscrapers of Central.
China (Hong Kong)View entry →
Inside Park glasshouse, Kobe Animal Kingdom (神戸どうぶつ王国), Port Island, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture
2006

Inside Park glasshouse, Kobe Animal Kingdom (神戸どうぶつ王国)

🇯🇵 Port Island, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture
A flower-and-animal park on Port Island set in a glasshouse, with hanging flowers, tropical water lilies and an inhabited tropical forest.
JapanView entry →
Jewel Changi Airport: Forest Valley and glass dome, Changi Airport, Singapore
2019

Jewel Changi Airport: Forest Valley and glass dome

🇸🇬 Changi Airport, Singapore
A toroidal glass-and-steel dome covers an indoor forest open day and night, around a 40 m waterfall.
SingaporeView entry →
Tropical Conservatory, Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, Givat Ram, Jerusalem
1986 · 2019

Tropical Conservatory, Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

🇮🇱 Givat Ram, Jerusalem
A single gardener tends the mini rainforest growing, almost secretly, at the heart of Jerusalem.
IsraelView entry →
Bucheon Botanical Garden Glasshouse (부천식물원), Bucheon (Chunui-dong, Wonmi-gu), Gyeonggi
2006

Bucheon Botanical Garden Glasshouse (부천식물원)

🇰🇷 Bucheon (Chunui-dong, Wonmi-gu), Gyeonggi
A glasshouse laid out as a peach blossom, Bucheon's emblem, at the heart of a municipal ecology park.
South KoreaView entry →
Butterfly Greenhouse, Itami City Museum of Insects (伊丹市昆虫館 チョウ温室), Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture
1990

Butterfly Greenhouse, Itami City Museum of Insects (伊丹市昆虫館 チョウ温室)

🇯🇵 Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture
A 15-metre hemispherical glass greenhouse where some 1,000 butterflies of about fourteen species fly all year round.
JapanView entry →
Dubai Butterfly Garden, Dubai
2015

Dubai Butterfly Garden

🇦🇪 Dubai
Over 15,000 butterflies under climate-controlled domes in the middle of the desert.
United Arab EmiratesView entry →

Oceania (33)

Fitzroy Gardens Conservatory, Melbourne, Victoria
1930

Fitzroy Gardens Conservatory

🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria
A greenhouse built during the Great Depression to bring a touch of color to a city in crisis.
AustraliaView entry →
Townend, Garrick, Gilpin and Foweraker Houses, Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch
1955–1967

Townend, Garrick, Gilpin and Foweraker Houses

🇳🇿 Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch
Four small interconnected glasshouses beside Cuningham House bring together seasonal flowers, cacti, orchids and alpine plants.
New ZealandView entry →
Blowes Conservatory (Cook Park), Orange, New South Wales
1934

Blowes Conservatory (Cook Park)

🇦🇺 Orange, New South Wales
Donated in 1934 by Mayor Alfred William Blowes, it grows tuberous begonias, the first of them a gift from the City of Ballarat.
AustraliaView entry →
Begonia House, Machattie Park, Machattie Park, Bathurst, New South Wales
1936

Begonia House, Machattie Park

🇦🇺 Machattie Park, Bathurst, New South Wales
Every year from February to April, some 300 tuberous begonias rise in tiers along the L-shaped stands of this 1936 glasshouse.
AustraliaView entry →
Display House (Greenhouse), Oamaru Public Gardens, Oamaru, Otago
1928–1929

Display House (Greenhouse), Oamaru Public Gardens

🇳🇿 Oamaru, Otago
Funded by a 1928 fete and opened in February 1929, it was then considered the largest display house in New Zealand.
New ZealandView entry →
Virginia Lake Winter Gardens (Rotokawau), Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui
1940

Virginia Lake Winter Gardens (Rotokawau)

🇳🇿 Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui
Built in 1940 to mark New Zealand's centennial, the glasshouse extends from a streamlined Moderne entrance building beside Lake Rotokawau.
New ZealandView entry →
Amazon Waterlily Pavilion, Adelaide Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia
2007

Amazon Waterlily Pavilion

🇦🇺 Adelaide Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia
Load-bearing columns and beams of laminated glass: a 2007 pavilion built around the heritage pond of the 1867 Victoria House.
AustraliaView entry →
Rosalind Park Conservatory, Bendigo, Victoria
1897

Rosalind Park Conservatory

🇦🇺 Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo's first prefabricated building, this 1897 cast-iron conservatory is the only nineteenth-century conservatory left standing in a public park in Victoria.
AustraliaView entry →

Read next

All articles →
Palm House, Kew, London
Days out

Greenhouses to Visit in London: from Kew Gardens to the Barbican

Kew's Palm House and Temperate House, the Barbican, Sky Garden, Syon Park… every greenhouse in London and its suburbs, with photos and visiting tips.

October 15, 2026
Grandes Serres du Jardin des Plantes, Paris, Île-de-France
Days out

Greenhouses to Visit in Paris: from the Jardin des Plantes to Auteuil

The Grandes Serres of the Jardin des Plantes, the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, the Vincennes zoo's Great Greenhouse… the greenhouses of Paris and its edges, with photos and visiting tips.

October 15, 2026
Palmenhaus Schönbrunn (Great Palm House), Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace Park
Days out

Greenhouses to Visit in Vienna: Schönbrunn, the Burggarten and More

The Schönbrunn Palm House, the Burggarten Palm House, the Desert House, the Botanical Garden glasshouses… Vienna's greenhouses, with photos and visiting tips.

October 15, 2026
Lalbagh Glass House, Bangalore (Bengaluru), Karnataka
Travel

The Glass Houses of India: from Colonial Conservatories to New Glass Palaces

Lalbagh in Bangalore, Ooty, Kuppanna Park in Mysore, Davanagere, Chennai… India's glass houses, with photos and visiting tips.

October 15, 2026