Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens project makes huge progress

The structure is set to become Norfolk's biggest greenhouse, filled with plants, once its multi-million pound renovation is complete in spring 2027.

A group from the Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew in south London, has been advising on the project, to identify suitable plants to install in the huge seafront structure.

Richard Barley, director of gardens at Kew, said: "It will not just be a botanical garden. It will be a hybrid between a garden and community space."

The Winter Gardens on the Great Yarmouth seafront (Image: Denise Bradley)

Jenny Coe, from Coe Design, which is also involved in the project, said: "The plants are governed by the temperature range, which will be between 10 to 30 degrees over the year."

"We will have temperate plants, as our main aim is to match plants that can accept the temperature change."

Among the plants that will be installed include palms from Chile.

Botanists have had to work closely with the architects and builders to make sure the plants will thrive in the structure.

Mike Maunder (right), Richard Barley, and Jenny Coe holding the plans for the project. (Image: Denise Bradley)

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Lawrence Williamson, one of the engineers involved in the project, said: "In the summer we will be opening up more windows than before, increasing the ventilation. And we will introduce shading to close off direct sunlight to the space."

"In the winter, we will be introducing discreet heating systems throughout, including a combination of trench heaters around the perimeter and under-floor heating.

"The main challenge we have faced is the integration with the structure so we don't impact the history of the building."

The Winter Gardens stand next to the Wellington Pier (Image: Denise Bradley)

Ian Miller, a consulting engineer involved in the project, said: "With the repair of the building, we are looking to repair the cast iron and look at recasting some elements where it has become badly corroded or cracked.

"I am just looking forward to seeing this place open again, full of people, and getting it back to what it has been in the past.

"It should be a world-renowned feature when it is complete."

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The scaffolding that is maintaining a sound structure currently. (Image: Denise Bradley)

The Winter Gardens has been described as one of the most endangered buildings in the UK since it closed in 2008 amid safety fears.

It was facing an uncertain future until the start of the current project part funded by £12.3m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £4m from the government's Town Deal Fund.

An interior shot of the scaffolding in the Winter Gardens (Image: Denise Bradley)

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Carl Smith, leader of the Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: "The whole project is a major challenge but we are so glad that the National Lottery Heritage Fund are behind us with it."

"This is our biggest regeneration project to date - it is really exciting and we can't wait to see the work start to develop."

"This is not just something for Great Yarmouth, or even the UK, but internationally too."

The garden was originally built in Torquay in 1878, before being dismantled, and reassembled in Great Yarmouth in 1904.