Birmingham Botanical Gardens has been awarded £9.075m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, marking a significant step forward in its major restoration project.

The award means the popular tourist landmark has reached 90% of the total target needed for its Growing Our Green Heritage project.

Over the next four years, the project will restore the Gardens’ historic Grade II listed glasshouses, which had been at risk of closure. The funding will also be used to improve visitor and learning facilities, and extend community engagement to ‘create a place of horticultural excellence and an outstanding green space for Birmingham and the Midlands region.’

With The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s grant, together with pledges of support (£8m) from The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Julia Rausing Trust, The Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust and others, the team says it can now preserve this historic estate, nursery and iconic glasshouses for future generations.

New outdoor learning facilities will be developed, welcoming 25,000 school children each year. A stunning central courtyard will be created through the demolition of the detrimental add-ons. Outdated buildings will be removed, and where possible, materials reused.

The existing café will be intelligently reused to create a visitor welcome building which will radically improve the visitor experience, including an expanded café overlooking the Gardens and a new reception, retail and plant sales area, contributing to long-term financial sustainability.  

Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ Chair, Sue Beardsmore, says: “Our uniquely biodiverse natural environment is one of the UK’s most significant historic botanic gardens and part of Birmingham and the West Midlands’, richly diverse cultural history and way of life. This safe, peaceful space is part of the green heart of Birmingham and a hugely treasured place to the city, the West Midlands region and its communities. With The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s grant, together with generous pledges of support (£8m) from The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Julia Rausing Trust, The Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust and others, we can now preserve this historic estate, nursery and iconic glasshouses for future generations.

We are immensely grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for this unique opportunity to restore an important part of Birmingham’s heritage, champion biodiversity and the environment, and reconnect people with nature. As we approach our Bicentenary, we can now ensure that BBG, the unique Living Collection and tangible and intangible heritage of this ‘miracle green space’ can be researched, shared and enjoyed by everyone for the next 200 years”.