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Glasshouse expertise helps wildlife conservation park create ‘world-class’ and award-winning butterfly exhibit

The commercial glasshouse and climate control expertise of CambridgeHOK has been hailed for helping a South Yorkshire wildlife and conservation park create ‘world-class’ tropical butterfly and bird exhibits.

We first built a glasshouse for butterfly breeding at the Tropical Butterfly House Wildlife Conservation Park, in Sheffield, in the mid-1990s.

Then, in 2022, we were asked to return to build a new, bigger facility able to offer more height and space for the growth of plants, with increased levels of natural light.

Since completion and opening in April 2023, the conservation park has seen its latest exhibit thrive thanks to the ‘perfect’ environment created, winning a gold award at the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Horticulture Awards.

The exhibit is designed to showcase the relationships between butterflies and their environment, and Rachel Barrowcliffe, head gardener at the wildlife park, says the facility has enabled it to do just that, with around 2,000 butterflies from Costa Rica and the Philippines filling the space.

“We’ve now got a world class exhibit, pretty much as good as it gets, and we are so pleased with the environment that we have created to enable us to show all these fantastic insets to the public,” she said.

“As we are glazed right down to the floor, the light levels are so much better, and it’s a single span building, which gives us the option to grow much taller plants.

“Light levels for butterflies are really, really important, as is daylight length. In here we can breed all over the summer, it would have been much shorter span in the old butterfly house.”

Steel portal frame building with polycarbonate glazing

The specification was for a steel portal frame building with roof venting to create an airtight building which would allow some natural airflow.

Polycarbonate was used rather than glass to reduce direct sunlight, so not to burn the plants, but also for insulation as in winter the facility has to remain around early to mid-20s degrees.

“It’s great to come back and see how well the environment is performing,” said Elliot Wrightson, project manager at CambridgeHOK.

“The plants have grown significantly, there’s a lot more butterflies as well, and speaking to the team here it’s provided a perfect environment for them. They are in raptures over how successful it has been and how well the butterflies have taken to it.

Original glasshouse roof replaced to become birdhouse exhibit

Teams from CambridgeHOK returned to conservation park for a third time in 2024 to replace the polycarbonate roof on the original glasshouse.

Now used as a Birdhouse, although it had stood the test of time over three decades, a new roof system has brought multiple benefits, letting in more light, and creating a much better environment for both the birds and visitors.

New vents were also installed, as was replacement mesh to allow maximum airflow into the glasshouse whilst ensuring the birds remain safely inside at all times.

“That was quite a complex project as the birds remained in the house whilst the works were undertaken so we had to do it in stages, working in sequence as they would move the birds from one enclosure to the next as we worked our way around behind them,” explained Mr Wrightson.

“There’s a lot of trees and ponds and streams also, so we had to put a full scaffold bird cage in and had to use roof walkers. It was quite a specialised undertaking for what looks quite a simplistic task.

“It required a lot of planning and a lot of coordination with the team at the park as the welfare protection of the animals in there was paramount too. It shows that even a building of quite an age can be rejuvenated and revitalised using modern techniques.”

Again, Mrs Barrowcliffe says it has made a huge difference.

“The birdhouse is about creating a more jungle feel for tropical birds,” she said.

“The polycarbonate had degraded, but over 20 years you don’t realise it is happening. Once we had the new polycarbonate fitted, the plants just went crazy and have flourished because you’ve got more light coming in, so it’s just a fantastic space.”

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