Exhibition Greenhouses, Gangneung Solhyang Arboretum (강릉솔향수목원 전시온실)

The city of Gangneung chose the site of Solhyang Arboretum in August 2006, had the plan approved in June 2008 and began works in 2008. The project was completed on 30 November 2011, with a temporary opening on 1 December 2011. The arboretum was registered on 23 October 2013 (no. Gangwon-02) and officially opened on 30 October 2013; according to the official chronology, the exhibition greenhouse was created on 20 November 2013.

In February 2015 the city announced the construction of a second exhibition greenhouse, in the same dome form as the first and joined to it by a passage. The structure and basic fit-out were finished by the end of 2014; interior landscaping was due in the first half of the year, for an opening in June 2015. It was conceived as a leisure space, with stress-relief, healing, beauty and Korean herb gardens, and for research on plant genetic resources. The sources of 2024 speak of two circular buildings.

During the Covid-19 period the indoor facilities were closed; the greenhouse reopened fully on 16 November 2021, with additional plantings. The arboretum has also opened in the evening since 1 June 2023; a tropical greenhouse has been added, which an article of 3 March 2024 presents as open to the public.

The two exhibition greenhouses are circular glass-domed buildings: the city describes a three-dimensional domed glasshouse linked to the first by a connecting passage (연결통로). They cover 743 m² in all according to the regional press of 2024. On an aerial image two adjoining domes can be made out, about 24 m and 18 m across (measurements taken on the image, indicative only, consistent with 743 m²). On the official site's photograph the entrance is a timber-clad portal set against the curve of the dome.

The tropical greenhouse reported in 2024, higher up in the arboretum, measures 24 × 45 m (1,080 m²) and has a double-pitched roof. It has an L-shaped lounge level from which the plants are seen from above, tables and chairs, and lighting along the access path for evening visits.

The 2015 press describes the first greenhouse as a set of subtropical plants. For the second greenhouse, announced the same year, the plan called for stress-relief, healing, beauty and Korean herb gardens and for research on plant genetic resources. At the reopening of November 2021, 47 species and 1,260 subtropical plants were added, including dieffenbachias and several bromeliads whose leaves hold water in which amphibians can lay eggs. In the tropical greenhouse reported in 2024 the city counts 40 species and about 880 plants of tropical herbaceous plants and Washington palms.

The exhibition greenhouse is one of the arboretum's main points of interest. The official plan proposes an "exhibition greenhouse trail", a 2 km round trip taking 40 minutes from the entrance, via the azalea garden, the crape-myrtle rest area, the rock garden and the medicinal garden; the full 3 km circuit takes 60 to 80 minutes. The arboretum also opens in the evening since 2023.

Climbing beyond the forest playground leads to the tropical greenhouse. The official page on surroundings recommends other Gangneung sites: the Gyeongpodae pavilion, the Seongyojang house and the Ojukheon residence.