In fact, the Herbarium, founded in Kew in 1853, is an archive and research center, which contains about 8 million dried specimens of plants and fungi; 30-50 thousand new exhibits are added to them every year, so the building has to be expanded approximately every 40 years.
The composition of the Callinan building is based on the opposition of the brick building of the "archive" (storage) with vaulted ceilings, where the optimum temperature is always maintained at 15 ° C, with light-filled spaces for research. The facades of this three-story part of the building are made of wood and glass and gently curve along its volume.
The new building is connected to the existing Herbarium complex with a circular volume of glass and wood: there is a round reading room (it is necessary, since the "archive" also contains books on botany and drawings) and - on the ground floor - a lobby overlooking to the new courtyard facing south.
The building has received the BREEAM Energy Efficiency Certificate “Excellent”.
