A 19th century Grade 1 listed glass house once used by the Beatles will become the heartbeat of community innovation in West London.
Designed in 1813 by renowned architect Samuel Ware of Burlington Arcade fame, the conservatory has been closed to the public since a 2022 report revealed its wooden structure was rotting.
This delicate situation was the undertaking of the Chiswick House & Gardens Trust, who operate the building, and the London Borough of Hounslow Council, who own it.
The back of the building, shielded from public view but of great historical interest, will undergo £6.3m of work to reshape the space for a modern audience.
In May this year, 19 studios will be made available, providing a ‘Creative Campus’ to between 40 and 50 artists in the nurtured haven of its surrounding gardens and 18th century neo-Palladian villa.
Head of Gardens at Chiswick House, Rosie Fyles, 54, said: “What we’re doing here is giving it (the conservatory) a contemporary use with artists studios, but also protecting the original features.
“It’s a bit of a sweet spot from a conservation point of view and a contemporary point of view.”
The opening of these studios encomes phase one of a three-part programme to restore the rear of the conservatory, the areas surrounding it, and taking steps toward the goal of reopening the glass house in its entirety.
Developed in collaboration with ASC (Artist Studio Company), the studio spaces have been backed by the Mayor of London’s Creative Enterprise Zone, ing artists and creative businesses across west London.
Other has come from Hounslow Council, The Lansbury Trust and the Wolfson Foundation.
With 67% of all affordable workspaces in London closing since 2014 and the waiting list for studios currently sat at over 3,000, these studios represent a vital injection of opportunity to artists across London.
As one project concludes, another starts, and phase two of plans to revitalise Chiswick House with a new ‘Leaning Hub’ are set to begin in September.
An entirely new facility that will allow the gardens to host over 7,000 horticultural and creative learning activities each year furthers efforts to bring more educational opportunities into the garden.
Director of Chiswick House and Gardens Trust Xanthe Arvanitakis, 54, says of the project: “It’s new income, its new s, its increased schools programming, increased community program and increased gardening.
“It’s incredible return for the investment in of what we’re switching on for £6.3m.”
Once complete, the number of schools the hub will host every year will jump from three to 90, and the number of schoolchildren using the garden will rise from 300 to 5,500.
Married up with the studios, these innovations are projected to produce an additional £400,000 of annual turnover once completed, and net £100,000 of new income for the Trust every year.
Once the studios and hub complete, the Trust will plan to fundraise for the opening of the glass house.
Safety concerns about the structural integrity of its wooden frame forced the grade-1 listed conservatory’s closure in 2022, and since has led to questions as to how or when it can be re-opened.
Arvanitakis stressed the contemporary approaches the Trust wish to take to the glass house renovations.
She added: “We want to be more bold and imaginative in of future uses.
“Can the glass be solar led? Can we use photo-voltaic glass? These are all sorts of things we’d love to explore, and we’re already having these sorts of conversations with historic England.
“It was amazing, and it will be again.”
To walk around Chiswick House in a year’s time, with all the community projects installed, marks a significant departure from how the gardens has looked in the past.
Arvanitakis said: “In the early 2000s to late 90s there was quite a lot of antisocial behaviour.
“If you were a teenager at the time this is where you would have come to score your drugs, it was quite a dark and overgrown environment.”
Historic interest in the maintenance of Chiswick Gardens is understandably high, but equally so is horticultural intrigue, since the conservatory’s primary purpose is to house an environment for its camellia collection.
The Trust has been working hand in glove with RBG Kew to establish duplicate collections whilst the glass house is under review.
Arvanitakis said: “Kew have been incredible. The team there are really ive and helpful.”
Councillor Amy Croft, of the London Borough of Hounslow, said: “I am thrilled that this project is opening up and repurposing some of the areas of this beautiful community asset, previously closed to the public.
“The Educational Centre will allow us to get more children across West London and beyond to learn from the beautiful surroundings about biodiversity and conservation.”
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