Wakehurst Place, run by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and home of the Millennium Seed Bank, has started work on a new visitor centre.
The £1.8m facility is being built to improve visitor facilities in response to Wakehurst's increasing popularity - Kew's country estate was voted Garden of the Year by the Good Britain Guide in 2001, the same year it received one of its hightest numbers of visitors.
The centre will include admissions services, a gift shop and new plant centre, while a coffee shop will take pressure off the restaurant. The visitor centre is due to open at the end of 2003. Details: +44 (0)1444 894018
