As conservatory design evolves from the historic Golden Age of wrought iron and single glazing to PVC sunrooms and the beautiful hybrid models you see today, the techniques and technologies used to repair conservatories also differ. 

However, the fundamental principles of careful design, the use of trusted, high-quality materials and coordination between architects, clients and construction contractors are essential for making a conservatory that will last a long time and be easy to repair on the few occasions that it is needed.

A great example of what happens when core design, construction and repair principles are not followed is the tragic fate of the first conservatory as we recognise the concept today, which could have been the future of architecture but failed to even become the present.

The Anathema Of Anthaeum

The rapid development of wrought iron and glass in the 19th century allowed for some truly ambitious conservatories to be constructed in what has since been dubbed the Golden Age of Conservatories, but the disastrous fate of Anthaeum could have ended this before it began.

It was the product of a partnership between two creative Sussex-born designers who moved to Brighton in the 1820s.

The first was Amon Henry Wilds, the son of an architect who similarly broke out in the 1820s after spending years working with the elder Mr Amon Wilds and architectural partner Charles Busby.

The other was landscape gardener and writer Henry Phillips, who developed several communal green spaces that became popular social hubs throughout the 1820s. 

It did not take long for the pair to start working together and their earliest notable project was The Level, an open field and public space in Brighton.

However, it would not take long for their aspirations to grow, and Mr Phillips had already developed a proposal for an Asian-themed garden and conservatory known at the time as Athenaeum as part of a residential complex.

The houses were completed but money ran out for the garden. However, by 1832, the plan was revived and relocated to nearby Hove. The slightly renamed Anthaeum was to feature the largest dome in the world, built entirely of iron and glass, with 1.5 acres of land to grow tropical trees and flowers.

The concept has, in hindsight, drawn comparisons to the Eden Project over 160 years later, and had it worked it would have been spectacular. However, problems emerged just as quickly as the promise.

Mr Phillips had brought in Mr Wilds as the architect and supervisor of the early work, but he also brought in Mr C. Hollis who acted as chief engineer and Mr English as the contractor to build it.

Nobody worked as a team, and nobody was in overall control of the project, which meant that when Mr English decided not to build the central pillar that was to hold the entire project again, nothing could be done to stop the rest of the world.

Mr Wilds left the project out of concern for its structural rigidity, and Mr Hollis left after arguing with Mr English.

Two days before the unveiling of the building, the temporary scaffolding holding up the roof was removed prematurely, allegedly a move by Mr English to rebut claims about his workmanship.

An hour after the last scaffolding piece was removed, the structure cracked and the building collapsed suddenly, the shock of which left Mr Phillips blind for the rest of his life.

It survived for 20 years as an ironic tourist attraction and a warning but has since been turned into Palmeira Square.