The beauty of natural landmarks is in how they influence the interior and exterior design of homes and gardens, and this is particularly true when it comes to conservatories.
Throughout their history, from the Palace of Versailles’ Orangery through the Golden Age of British Conservatories up until the present day, design elements seen in huge conservatories would trickle down to everyone else as conservatories became a more standard addition.
Whilst this is most commonly seen with Victorian-era conservatories and the recent revival of the traditional style of wrought iron and plate glass, it can even be seen in some of the largest and most unconventional designs in the world, such as the Eden Project in Cornwall.
This might seem ostensibly somewhat unusual, but even this series of geodesic domes managed to influence a new generation of conservatories as much through the Eden Project’s mission and values as through its design.
From Desolation To Delight
Before the Eden Project was created, the clay pit on which it sat was used to represent desolate alien planets in television shows.
Most notably, the 1981 television adaptation of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy used the Cornish clay pit to resemble the desolate surface of the planet-building planet Magrathea.
However, by the 1990s, its usefulness both as a source of clay and as a stand-in for intergalactic locales was exhausted.
This exhaustion became the inspiration for a symbol of sustainability, where a seemingly desolate pit could be turned into a verdant wonderland, built under a geodesic dome.
On a holistic level, this is the greatest influence the Eden Project had on modern conservatories, as there was a shift in purpose from small sunrooms to much more multifunctional, versatile and year-round locales that became a seamless indoor-outdoor space.
A Focus On Sustainability
The Eden Project was designed with sustainability at the forefront, and whilst there were some extra steps it could have taken in this regard, it has made a remarkable commitment to the tenets of ecological preservation upon which it was designed.
It uses rainwater harvesting systems, solar panels and other renewable energy sources, and unlike Great Conservatories of the past, such as the ones at Chatsworth House and Syon House, it does not require significant external heating sources to maintain its rainforest and tropical biomes.
These elements have inspired changes in how conservatories have been designed in the years since, with a greater focus on versatility and less reliance on radiators and air conditioning systems during the height of winter and summer, respectively.
There has also been a return to biophilic design and biomimicry, adapting design concepts from nature in order to create a better-looking and better-functioning conservatory design.
Finally, many conservatories are being adapted to fit solar panels if they have been built in such a way that they avoid a lot of shade.
Sunlight And Insulation
One of the biggest technical and design revolutions that has come in the wake of the Eden Project was a focus on passive solutions to the previously common conservatory issue of extreme heat and cold conditions.
Many people with an old uPVC sunroom made from the 1970s up until the mid-2000s have a familiar story; on a mild day, it is perfect at accentuating the sun, but it becomes an oven in the summer and a glacier in the winter.
Typically, in the past, this has been fixed through active means. Many homes with conservatories have a backup portable space heater and a standing fan to plug in to ensure that the room can be comfortably used whenever it is needed.
However, modern conservatories are designed with a greater understanding of passive heating and cooling technologies, inspired at least in part by the ETFE cells that provide the controlled conditions needed to create one of the world’s largest indoor rainforests.
The increasing use of UV-treated glass, thicker insulation and solid roofing all help to create a much more tolerable living environment for a conservatory, and many of these features have been retrofitted into previously intolerable conservatories.
Designing For The Environment
One of the greatest achievements of the Eden Project is less about its design and more about its location.
The clay pit was infamously troublesome during its creation, as a huge torrential downpour in 1998 flooded the pit, delaying construction for a long time as the site had to be drained.
The result was a remarkable achievement, and it inspired many people who wanted to build conservatories to design around their particular circumstances.
South-facing gardens focused on reflecting and insulating against heat, whilst north-facing gardens took advantage of the shade to create highly comfortable views of the garden.