Visitors to Kew Gardens get bird’s-eye view

The design team behind the London Eye has created the UK’s first walk-in viewing area illustrating ‘tree biology’.

Opening at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, on 24 May, the Rhizotron and Xstrata Tree Top Walkway has been designed by architect Marks Barfield.

The viewing area, 18m high and 200m long, allows visitors to step into the tree canopy and see a bird’s-eye view of Kew.

It features 12 modular walkway trusses connected by ten circular platforms, a classroom-sized area at the mid-point with space for 35 people, and a tower with a hydraulic lift.

MB principal Julia Barfield says the structure design draws on the Fibonacci sequence, using natural growth patterns where each number is equal to the sum of the previous two.