Kew’s Palm House is a Victorian glasshouse built at an unprecedented scale to protect tropical plants in London. Its curving iron frame and glazed roof borrow techniques from shipbuilding, giving the structure a hull-like profile while creating a warm, humid environment for botanical collections.
Guide preview
The Palm House can look like an upturned ship resting among Kew’s lawns. That resemblance comes from its engineering: architect Decimus Burton and iron-maker Richard Turner drew on shipbuilding techniques to create a large iron-and-glass structure. It opened in 1848, designed to house tropical plants that could not survive London’s outdoor climate.
Continue exploring
Discover the full story
Keep reading with a travel pass and explore every full guide and tour.
UpgradeQuick facts
- The Palm House opened in 1848.
- It was designed by Decimus Burton and constructed by Richard Turner.
- Kew says it houses more than 1,000 tropical and subtropical plant species.
More places in London
10 Downing Street
Number 10 Downing Street is a Georgian townhouse that has served as the official residence of the Prime Minister since 1735. Its familiar black door is set within a narrow terrace on a street named for diplomat Sir George Downing, where the visible domestic scale belies the building’s public role.
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the cultural heart of a larger postwar estate, where elevated walkways, concrete towers, gardens, and water create a city within the City. Opened in 1982, it combines arts venues with residential and civic spaces.
Barbican Conservatory
The Barbican Conservatory places dense planting inside the Barbican’s concrete architecture. Planted in 1980–81 and opened in 1984, it connects modernist building design with horticulture, using glass, structure, and a varied collection of plants to create an indoor landscape.
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station’s four chimneys and monumental brick halls preserve the silhouette of London’s electricity age. Closed in 1983, the Grade II* listed station has been adapted as a public destination while retaining its industrial structure.
Big Ben
The Elizabeth Tower rises beside the Palace of Westminster, making parliamentary time visible across London. “Big Ben” is the Great Bell inside, not the tower itself. Its four immense dials and Victorian mechanism combine civic ritual with ingenious clock engineering.
Borough Market
Borough Market’s present lanes sit beside a railway viaduct that helped turn it into a major wholesale hub. A market near London Bridge has roots reaching back about a thousand years; its modern identity reflects changing transport, food supply, and a later shift toward retail trading.