Temperate House

Travel the world in this truly impressive cathedral of plants – home to 1,200 species from Asia, Australasia, the Americas, and Africa.

Following a major five-year renovation process, the Grade 1 listed Temperate House re-opened in 2018 to showcase the splendour of the world’s temperate flora.  

As tender plants, most of the species grown in the Temperate House are unable to tolerate temperatures below freezing with a preferred minimum temperature kept at around 10 degrees Celsius through the UK’s cold winters. 

The Temperate House tells the story of how Kew and our global partners are working to rescue plants that are rare or already extinct in the wild. The glasshouse holds significant collections of threatened island flora from some of the earth’s most remote locations like the Island of Saint Helena, the Pitcairn Islands and Juan Fernández Islands.

Filled with roughly 3000 individual plants, this vast collection may help us find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues, from climate change to loss of biodiversity or food security.  

Enriched by over 260 years of plant expertise, the Temperate House is an iconic landmark and a showcase of contemporary horticultural conservation. 

The Temperate House was voted 'Best UK National Treasure' at the 2018 National Geographic Traveller Magazine Reader Awards. 

Acknowledgements  

We would like to thank the Heritage Lottery Fund, Defra, Eddie and Sue Davies, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Wolfson Foundation, The Linbury Trust, The Hartnett Conservation Trust, and other supporters. 

Thanks also to donors supporting the Horticultural and Construction Apprenticeships, including the J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, the Buffini Chao Foundation, Make My Day Better, The Ingram Trust, the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, the Finnis Scott Foundation, the Ernest Cook Trust, CHK Charities Limited, the Sandra Charitable Trust, the Vandervell Foundation, the Radcliffe Trust, the Eranda Foundation, the Worshipful Company of Gardeners, the Lake House Charitable Foundation, the Helen Hamlyn Trust, the February Foundation, and other donors.