Issue 42 summer 24 web - Flipbook - Page 84
A room fit for the rarest
of plants: a detailed look
at the restoration of the
Camellia House
The Camellia House was in poor condition. The glazed roof had collapsed, and the centuries-old
camellias had outgrown the building. They were peeping through the collapsed roof.
“All that was left of the roof were nine corroded iron
trusses. No glass or glazing bars remained in place. We did,
however, have historical photos to inform the design,
which evidenced the number of panes and their proportions. Fortunately, there are still glass roof manufacturers
in operation producing ‘traditional’ lead-clad glazing bars
that provide an authentic historic glazed roof appropriate
for this highly significant garden building,” says Dorian
Proudfoot, Director at Donald Insall Associates.
The new glass roof was specified with the plants in mind.
Single glazing was used with automatically opening vents
along the north pitch. The south pitch has blinds that
fully cover the south roof slope to prevent scorching of
the plants from direct sunlight.
Similarly, the six magnificent 20-over-20 sash windows of
the south elevation have been comprehensively restored
to fully open for maximum ventilation and light when required, with Roman blinds to reduce overheating in the
height of summer. A rainwater harvesting system has been
installed to reduce mains water usage. The camellias
prefer rainwater to mains water.
The main concern from a buildability point of view is that
the Camellia House, due to its age and the post-war open
cast mining at Wentworth Woodhouse, had settled unevenly. This made installing the refurbished trusses and
the new glass panes a challenge. Specialist scaffolding was
required to ensure the camellias were protected while
allowing enough daylight for the plants and mitigating the
impact of building dust and debris entering the soil.
While caring for the camellias, the team made every effort
to retain as much of the character of the original building
as possible.
Above, Donald Insall Associates - Camellia House photo credit Damian Griffiths
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
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