Birmingham Botanical Gardens set for ‘urgent restoration’ project

Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens is embarking on a five-year £13.8m development project to restore and preserve part of its estate which is considered at risk by Historic England.

Plans will restore the Grade II historic glasshouse estate, improve visitor and learning facilities and engage with the community to create “a place of horticultural excellence”.

Other key spaces including the education facility and plant nursery will also be improved, to provide an environment to care to the living collections and increase public awareness of plants, sustainability and environmental issues.

The Botanical Gardens is one of the UK’s most significant historic botanic gardens which has remarkably remained intact since 1829.

The project has secured the backing of the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) which awarded a development grant of £590k in October 2022, together with the opportunity to secure £5m+ in October 2024.

A design team led by Glen Howells Architects and supported by conservation architect Donald Insalls are working to finalise the plans. Building works are set to begin mid-2025 with completion due in 2028 in time to celebrate BBG’s bicentenary in 2029.

To lever the £5.5m NLHF grant, the Gardens must secure matched funding/pledges of 8.5m. To achieve this, it is calling on “everyone who cares about the future of the Gardens” to help raise these substantial funds.

Sara Blair-Manning, CEO of Birmingham Botanical Gardens said: “This is the last chance to save Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The gardens offer a rich, uniquely biodiverse natural environment, one mile from the city centre and we know, through consultation, that they are hugely treasured by the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands.

“They need urgent and extensive restoration and repairs and are considered at risk by Historic England. A successful project will mean they can continue to connect people with culture, heritage and nature in a large urban metropolis.

“We are grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for the development monies and look forward to being able to deliver a successful project with Howells and the wider design team.”

Preet Gill, MP for Edgbaston said: “Never has there been a more important time to engage more people with plants, with nature, with green space and to better understand environmental issues. In accordance with the Levelling Up agenda, the Gardens has the potential to hugely increase pride of place, people’s satisfaction with the City and inspire greater engagement in local culture and the community.”