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| New naturally ventilated wing to Kew’s Herbarium  Since the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives was first founded in 1852, much has changed in the world of plant classification. Until a few decades ago only the physical appearance of plants guided how taxonomists classified species. Today, genetic analysis enables scientists to reassess ideas of relatedness of plants, and also to deduce the order in which groups of plants diverged from each other as they evolved.Kew's Herbariumis expanding during the United Nation's International Year of Biodiversity with a new state-of-the-art 5000m² extension. Kew will take advantage of the additional space provided by the new wing to reorganise its collection of plant specimens to conform to the DNA-based Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) system of classification. Designed by Edward Cullinan Architects, the new wing was carefully designed to complement the existing building and go on to say "The concept for the building is generated by juxtaposing the vault-like, climate-controlled archive (that keeps the specimens at a constant 15°) with airy, day-lit research spaces. These glass and timber research areas undulate around the 3 storey, brick-clad archive enabling scientists to work in close proximity to the collection." To ensure that the research spaces within the new wing are kept well ventilated, adaptive natural ventilation specialists SE Controls were specified to provide automation to the windows and roof vents. On the new wing at Kew, SE Controls worked in partnership with the glazing specialist, Melayway Glass Assemblies Ltd. Schüco AWS systems were specified for the windows and doors, with FW60+ Curtain wall. All external finishes were specified and anodised by LHT to Uncol Anolok 541 'Pale Umber'. Internal finishes were specified in RAL 8080 matt powder coating. The original Kew Herbarium building has been extended six times, starting in 1877. The new wing extends the capacity of the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives by about 40 years, providing climate-controlled storage and adjacent research areas. As well as housing hundreds of thousands of plant specimens, it provides new, state-of-the-art space for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's outstanding Library, Art and Archives Collection. Scientists from other institutions and amateur botanists will get greater access to the collections when the new wing opens as part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's year-long celebrations to mark the UN's International Year of Biodiversity. The project engineers on the new Herbarium, wing are Buro Happold and construction services were provided by Willmot Dixon. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |