The Palm House at Kew Gardens, London

The Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, built between 1844 and 1848, is the glasshouse most people picture when they hear the word. Decimus Burton is credited with the design and Richard Turner with the ironwork and engineering, and historians still argue over who deserves more credit. Its curved ribs of wrought iron let the house rise without internal clutter, an early use of the material on this scale. This summer view looks across the beds and the stone Queen's Beasts toward the central dome.