In a few weeks, the time will come again and caretaker Klaas Koopmans will once again house Mattemburgh Estate’s unique tub plant collection in the winter garden on the estate, which was completed in 2018. In March of this year, as one of the architects of this building, I had the opportunity to take a look at the winter garden to see how well it functions.

At the time of the design process of this unique building, no firm specifications had been issued in advance regarding the size of the building and the climate. Based on an inventory of the tub plant collection with diameters and heights and theoretical assumptions about the desired climate such as humidity and airflow principles, the design process with those involved and citrus expert Ben Buynsters estimated as best as possible how big the building should be and how it should function.

When you then see how beautifully the entire collection hibernates in the winter garden and you hear from those involved that the building functions very well, as an architect you can’t help but feel proud to have been part of the project team that created a place to hibernate for this valuable horticultural history.