Kew greenhouse granted £15m of lottery funding

16:44 10th May 2011

The world-famous Kew Greenhouse is to be given a multi-million pound facelift to ensure its collection of plants from all over the world is preserved for generations to come.

Officially known as the Temperate House at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, the greenhouse is the largest surviving Victorian glass building in the world, though there had been widespread concern over recent months that a lack of funding could signal its steady demise.

However, it has now been confirmed that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is to give Kew Gardens £15 million worth of funding to bring the greenhouse into the 21st century.

Announcing the news, the chair of the fund, Dame Jenny Abramsky, said that the projects being supported through this latest round of funding are "truly exemplary and will make a real impact on people's experience of heritage in the years to come".

Kew is also home to the Palm House, where the palm collection gifted to the nation by King George V is housed.