Glasshouse

The glasshouse at Waterfall Sanatorium is a small steel-framed conservatory attached to one of the auxiliary buildings, with arched glass panels on three sides and a glass-and-steel roof. The glass is mostly intact, although a few panes have cracked and one is missing entirely. Inside, plants from when the glasshouse was last used have continued growing where they could and died back where they could not. Tropical species have survived best, taking advantage of the warm, humid microclimate the structure still creates. The original timber benches inside have collapsed; the plants have grown over them. The frame of the glasshouse holds, but barely.

A glasshouse at a sanatorium served two functions: it grew flowers and small produce for the wards, and it gave patients in convalescence a controlled environment to spend time in during winter. Patients with chronic respiratory conditions benefited from the warmth and humidity. After Waterfall's closure, the glasshouse was left in place. The remaining plants have continued growing, on a closed-loop water cycle of sorts: condensation forms on the inside of the glass and runs down to the soil. The glasshouse in this photograph is partly a building and partly the working ecosystem the building has become.