The Glasshouse, Jephson Gardens

The Jephson Gardens began as riverside walks along the River Leam: 1831 according to Warwick District Council, 1834 according to Wikipedia. After 1846 the land became a formal garden named for Dr Henry Jephson, who had promoted the town as a spa. The park declined slowly after the Second World War. A restoration programme run by the district council in the early 2000s, backed by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of over 3 million pounds, restored it; Wikipedia dates the start of the work to 1999.

The glasshouse is the flagship of that programme. ArchitecturePLB designed it for the council on a plot that held derelict potting sheds, which the council describes as a redundant nursery. The brief called for a temperate house, teaching rooms and a restaurant; the project, valued at 1.2 million pounds by the practice, was completed in 2002 and the council dates the opening to 2003.

The floods of 1998 had led the Environment Agency to impose strict rules on floor levels and flood profiles along the bank, so the cantilevered restaurant sits over a flood undercroft. It ceased trading between 2010 and 2014, according to a Geograph caption; the building remained a public glasshouse linked to a teaching space.

The building consists of a central glasshouse sandwiched between a two-storey exhibition foyer and a 120-seat restaurant, according to ArchitecturePLB. It is built of structural glass fixed to a light steel frame. The technical challenge, the practice says, was to make this light structure appear to float over the plants while still giving enough environmental control inside. The answer combines structural glazing carried on gull-wing steel spines spanning the width of the building; each wing is joined to the next by a strip of clerestory glazing that opens automatically to ventilate the house naturally and keeps each wing legible as a separate form.

The glasshouse sits on a reinforced-concrete base that rises at both ends to form the teaching block and the restaurant, which projects out over the river. The gentle slope of the site lets visitors descend by a series of ramps through the glasshouse to the restaurant. The council adds that the glasshouse is run without pesticides or herbicides: pests are controlled biologically and weeds are removed by hand.

The glasshouse brings together tropical and temperate plants. The council names banana, pink powder puff and bird of paradise; a 2016 photograph on Wikimedia Commons shows a strelitzia in the subtropical house. There is also a goldfish pond, an observation beehive and a slate sculpture designed by David Wilson.

The ecological management is part of the visit: a summer "Bug of the Month" feature explains the biological control methods in use. A teaching studio, hired out for craft and art sessions, and worksheets on plant growth, adaptation and food serve local schools.

The Glasshouse stands in the middle of the Jephson Gardens, off the main avenue and on the river side. Visitors enter through the foyer, then walk down the gentle slope through the plants to the river end, where the restaurant stood. Admission is free; hours vary from day to day and are published by the council, which describes the glasshouse as open daily.

Wikipedia mentions in the gardens a temple of 1849 holding the statue of Dr Jephson, the Czech memorial fountain of 1968, listed Grade II in 2018, and the former aviary converted into a cafe. The visit combines easily with the centre of Leamington, close by.