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Great Glasshouse is No 1 Wonder of Wales

The Great Glasshouse at the National Botanic Garden of Wales has been named the No 1 modern Wonder of Wales.

Readers of the Western Mail voted the Lord Foster-designed glasshouse for top honours after a four-month campaign by the newspaper

The magnificent centrepiece of the Garden, officially opened just six years ago, is home to more than 1,000 different species of plants and is reputedly the largest single-span green house in the world.

Roy Thomas, chief executive of the Gardens, was overjoyed by the public vote of confidence: "I'm quite breath-taken," he said, "I'm delighted for the staff and for the garden and that there's fantastic support around given the difficult times we've had."

He called the glasshouse “an iconic symbol for modern promoting the importance of our environment”.

Less than two years ago the £43 million project came close to shutting amid a funding crisis but workers and managers have turned around the site's fortunes and hope today's vote will herald further successes.

"The Great Glasshouse is a Noah's Ark for plants and is a great vision that we have to hold on to and develop," Mr Thomas said. "We're looking to the future with great confidence and looking to fulfill the vision of creating a world-class institution."

The rugged, much-loved bulk of Snowdon was named as the runner-up out of the shortlist of 30 Welsh icons which included Tom Jones, the coracle and the Millennium Stadium.