Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken (French: Serres royales de Laeken, Dutch: Koninklijke Serres van Laken) are a vast complex of monumental heated greenhouses in the park of the Royal Palace of Laeken (northern part of the City of Brussels), Belgium. The historic complex contains tropical, subtropical and cold greenhouses, and is home to the famous Royal Botanic Collection, which includes large collections of camellias, orange trees and many plants originating from the African parts of the former Belgian Empire. The greenhouses were commissioned by King Leopold II, originally designed by the architect Alphonse Balat, and built between 1874 and 1905. Following Balat's death in 1895, Leopold called upon the architects Henri Maquet and Charles Girault. They are now part of the Royal Domain of Laeken and the royal private gardens belonging to the Belgian royal family, and are accessible to the public only a few days a year.

History

Inception and construction The original gardens of the Royal Palace of Laeken date back to the 18th century, but King Leopold II drastically altered their appearance. The king, having visited the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, wanted a similarly progressive building in his palace's garden, which would combine his love of plants with multifunctional spaces that could also be used as a banquet, theatre and dining halls. He first approached the botanist Jean Linden for this project, but found his design too unambitious. He then commissioned his architect, Alphonse Balat. Balat's plans surpassed all that had been achieved at the time, even the Palm house in London's Kew Gardens and Carl Bouché's botanical garden in Berlin-Schöneberg. The project was the result of a close collaboration between Balat and the king, involving frequent discussions, correspondence and preliminary designs.

The first construction phase took place between 1874 and 1893, ending with the completion of the so-called Iron Church, a domed greenhouse, which would originally serve as the royal chapel. The inauguration took place in 1880, but the complex was also expanded afterwards. During that period, the king was establishing his Congo Free State, a private colony that was founded in 1885. The greenhouses were intended as a symbol of the king's colonial power, with plants from Central Africa said to illustrate that power. In particular, the Congo Greenhouse and the Embarcadère Greenhouse were built in 1886–1888 from this perspective. A third zone was constructed from 1892 to 1905. Following Balat's death in 1895, Leopold called upon the architects Henri Maquet and Charles Girault to oversee this work. The octagonal Palm Pavilion was furnished as a bedroom and connected to the palace by a subterranean corridor where Leopold received his mistresses. After the king's death in 1909, the greenhouses were preserved, but the Iron Church was converted into a private royal bathing house.

Present-day

The Winter Garden at Laeken Palace still serves as the setting for royal receptions. Every year in the spring, the greenhouses are partially opened to the public for twenty days at the request of Leopold II. This tradition has been carried on by all monarchs who reigned after him. The greenhouses are also sometimes used today for contemporary art exhibits and displays, such as Alexandre Dang's The Dancing Solar Forget-Me-Not for the International Day of Missing Children (in cooperation with Child Focus) in 2010. Since 2021, a new heating system for the Royal Domain of Laeken has come into operation: the new network is directly connected to the Neder-Over-Heembeek incinerator via 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of underground pipes allowing the residual heat released by the incinerator to be exported to the Royal Domain and thus heat the greenhouses and buildings.

Description The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are among Belgium's major 19th-century monuments. They were built entirely in metal and glass, which represented a spectacular innovation for the time (as did the Crystal Palace in London). This immense complex, whose total floor surface is 2.5 ha (6.2 acres), takes on the appearance of a glass city set in a hilly landscape. It is characterised by monumental pavilions, glass domes, as well as wide galleries that run through the grounds like covered streets. In the steel constructions, Balat introduced decorative motifs derived from plants and flowers. This formed a first step towards Art Nouveau architecture, a style that was further developed by Victor Horta, who served as an apprentice of Balat's. Approximately 800,000 litres (210,000 US gallons) of fuel oil are needed each year to heat the buildings.

Orangery The existing Orangery was built between 1817 and 1819 by the architects Guislain-Joseph Henry and François Verly on the orders of King William I of the Netherlands. A rectangular neoclassical building, 97 metres (318 ft) long, 13 metres (43 ft) wide, and 8 metres (26 ft) high, it is connected to the palace via the Theatre Greenhouse. The Dining Room Greenhouse is also attached to it. It houses orange trees, a collection of laurels, rhododendrons, and camellias, as well as a bust of Leopold II by the sculptor Jef Lambeaux.

Winter Garden The largest greenhouse is the round-domed Winter Garden, built in 1874. With a diameter of 57 metres (187 ft) and a height of 25 metres (82 ft), it is made up of a number of concentric cast iron trusses, which are supported halfway through their span by a circular Doric colonnade. The trusses' starting and ending points rest on the ground, giving the greenhouse the appearance of a glass dome supported by flying buttresses. Its enormous dimensions made it possible to plant Congolese palm trees in the rotunda. This Winter Garden, the main building of the complex, was also of great importance for the development of cast-iron architecture.

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