Both the Rhizotron and the Xstrata Treetop Walkway have unique features, encouraging visitors to explore the special role of trees on our breathing planet.
Supported by the Hanson Environment Fund, Kew's Rhizotron (taken from the Greek rhiza , meaning root) will give visitors a unique opportunity to delve into the unseen, underground world of trees. Entered through an apparent crack in the earth, the Rhizotron will be a fun, intriguing and educational 'secret place' showing visitors the lively natural world beneath our feet and explaining the vital relationship between tree roots and micro-organisms in the soil.
The Xstrata Treetop Walkway will be a thrilling experience, taking visitors 18 metres high into the tree canopy for a birds-eye view of Kew and an intimate view of deciduous woodland from within the tranquillity of the leaves, together with some of its dependents: birds, insects, lichens and fungi. The structure, made from Corus weathering steel, is an ingenious design based on a Fibonnaci numerical sequence, often found in nature's growth patterns.
Both installations are fully accessible for people with disabilities, and have strong educational components. The Rhizotron will be the UK 's only underground display on tree root biology.
Marks Barfield Architects, who designed the London Eye, have designed these innovative but low-environmental-impact installations especially for the World Heritage Site. Work has just started, and, with the help of a team of experts, will be completed for Kew's Festival of Trees starting in May 2008. As well as providing an exciting experience, both features will allow visitors to see leaves and roots up close and learn something about the role of trees in relation to climate change.
The installations will be located deep within the gardens. They will connect to other major features by a new informal pathway, known as the Arc, which will draw visitors across the middle of the Arboretum into the less-visited parts of the botanical gardens. -- www.rbgkew.org.uk
