The Story of Gardening Shortlisted for RIBA Awards

The Story of Gardening museum by Stonewood Design, with architectural glazing by IQ, has been shortlisted for the RIBA South West Awards 2020.

The Story of Gardening museum is found within the grounds of the Hadspen House estate and features an impressive 5m tall elevation of frameless structural glazing. The architect felt the 1000m2 Story of Gardening museum was as much part of the weighty architectural legacy of the site as it was of The Newt’s expanding visitor experience.

Floor-to-ceiling minimal framed double-height sliding glass entrance doors to story of gardening museumHadspen House, recently bought by South African billionaires Koos Becker and Karen Roos, is an eighteenth-century house, with an estate which extends over 900 acres of Somerset countryside. Becker and Roos have worked for six years, and have invested millions in an effort to transform Hadspen into “The Newt in Somerset”; a luxury hotel and garden, which includes this purpose-built garden museum.

The underground museum furthers Hadspen’s function as a visitor attraction; it was imperative that the museum was designed in a way which helped it to stand out, whilst also allowing it to blend in with the surrounding countryside. The long glazed elevation opens onto woodland, and its grassed roof is inhabited by the estate’s deer herd, showing that the design fully accounted for the required integration of the renovation into the natural environment.

RIBA says that the museum is “approached via a tree-top walkway over a wooded dell, the building is glimpsed at canopy level before the bridge splays out into a terrace. Its glazed facade has 5m high sliding doors while the interior is simple in-situ concrete, lessening the cooling and heating load”.

Double-height oversized frameless structural glass wall at story of gardening museumThe oversized structural glazing of both the structural glass wall and the bespoke glass doors reflects the whole treescape, effectively allowing the otherwise obtrusive concrete building to hide within its beautiful surrounding landscape. The seamless reflectivity of the 5m tall automated glass doors was designed and engineered by glazing consultant Tim Macfarlane. IQ Glass’ design allowed for the structure-free façade which the client wanted; 60mm deep glass units were used, with 10mm structural silicone joints also sitting in deep stainless steel channels at the bottom and top.

Due to the current global situation with CV19, the judging of the RIBA South West Awards 2020 has been postponed for the time being.

If you would like any advice or information about oversized architectural glazing on your own project get in touch with the team at IQ who will be happy to advise.

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Lucy Thompson

Lucy is a member of the Marketing team at IQ Glass. She spends most her time working on the company's website and SEO strategy. She also enjoys dabbling in photography and putting together other creative content.

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