A £25million masterplan is set to breathe new life into one of Birmingham’s ‘crown jewels’. Welcome to the exciting future of our much-loved Botanical Gardens!
It’s an interesting and completely appropriate analogy. Birmingham Botanical Gardens and a pair of old, comfy slippers! You know the ones we mean… well-worn, a little threadbare maybe, but still very much loved.
In case you’re wondering, the description is not ours, but that of Sara Blair-Manning, the Gardens’ chief executive. And it wasn’t said to be derogatory in any way – far from it! Rather, Sara was summing up the Gardens place in Birmingham’s collective history. And the fact that a real jewel has become rather tired over time and definitely in need of some serious TLC.
MASTERPLAN
Sara and her amazing team are in the early stages of doing just that – of bringing the Gardens back to their former glory with a massive restoration masterplan over the coming five years. The £25million cost is targeted to come from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), charitable foundations and corporate and individual donations. It will see the centrepiece of the 15-acre site, the four magnificent Victorian glasshouses – the Lily House, Palm House, Mediterranean House and Arid House – restored as part of a wider rejuvenation which will be the biggest overhaul in the Gardens’ 200-year history.
The NLHF awarded an initial development grant of £590,000 in 2022 and this will be followed up when the Gardens submit an application for the first phase of the project totalling £19million. “We should hear whether we have been successful from NLHF in June. If we are successful with the application then we will have fund-raised a total of £15.5million from charitable trusts and foundations,” Sara explained.
START DATE
“We will then have an additional £3.5million left to raise. Some of this will be from additional trusts, foundations and landfill grants. The remainder will be from individual and corporate giving. If successful with the NLHF and the fund-raising, the works are expected to start in mid-2026 and end in late 2029.”
As well as restoring the glasshouses – which in itself will require the relocation of more than 10,000 plants – the project led by Glen Howells Architects, supported by conservation architects Donald Insalls, will see a new visitors centre to include a cafe and shop, a new central courtyard and a building for events, as well as improvements to car parking.
The Gardens, which operates as a charity, already attracts 19,000 school visits a year, a total of 225,000 day visitors and 35,000 conference visitors, bringing an economic benefit to the city of £6million a year – which is expected to double to £12million as a result of the restoration project. In readiness for what will be an amazing new future for the Gardens, Sara has set her immediate goal on getting Brummies excited and talking about what is to come.
SUPPORT
“Our focus is on really raising awareness right now,” she said. “Getting people’s support for the Gardens in whatever form that may take – from more people visiting, or by becoming members, or writing to their MPs to get their support, or just by everyone speaking warmly of the Gardens in general.”
The importance of the project cannot be overstated as Sara stressed that it really is “the last chance to save Birmingham Botanical Gardens”. She added: “The Gardens offer a rich, uniquely biodiverse natural environment just one mile from Birmingham city centre, and we know, through consultation, that they are hugely treasured by the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands. This project will ensure the preservation of Birmingham’s priceless heritage and save these beautiful Gardens for future generations.
“It is a transformational project that will restore the glasshouse estate to its former magnificence, improve key spaces and facilities, including education spaces and the plant nursery, provide a suitable environment to care for the living collections, strengthen financial resilience and increase public understanding of plants, sustainability, and environmental issues.”