Ground Broken on Kew Gardens Learning Centre
Facility with lecture theatres and laboratories will be open to the public
Construction work begins on the Shafran Learning Centre at Kew Gardens. Picture: RBG Kew
August 23, 2025
Kew Gardens has hit a milestone as it prepares to open its first-ever learning centre. Construction work officially started to build the Shafran Learning Centre at the world-famous botanic gardens this week, to improve Kew’s educational offer in person and virtually through livestreamed lessons on plant and fungal science.
The centre will have laboratories, lecture theatres, classrooms, a gallery, offices, toilets and a garden once it opens to the public, which is scheduled for October 2026. It will be Kew’s first net-zero educational building and purpose-built teaching space.
Early years groups, school pupils, teachers, adults and community groups are among those who will use the centre, which aims to educate people on the climate and nature crises to provide them with the skills and attitudes to address them. It also hopes to encourage more young people to take up careers in plant science, mycology and horticulture by increasing engagement with secondary school pupils.
The centre will be a hub for weekend science and gardening clubs for young children and families, creative writing workshops for community groups and other events. It will provide Kew with more indoor space to expand the short courses it offers in horticulture, botanical art and garden design, while introducing new schemes like family science clubs.
The centre is replacing the White Peaks café, which shut in 2021 when the Family Kitchen & Shop opened at Kew.
Richmond Council officers approved the scheme in 2024 after ruling it would “provide larger more modern and sustainably-designed facilities” which would be “fully accessible to disabled people and those with mobility issues”. The officers’ report said the centre would be larger and taller than the existing development, but the benefits and “need for the proposal” outweighed this concern.
CGI of Shafran Learning Centre, Kew Gardens. Picture: Jerram Falkus/RBG Kew
Planning documents added the scheme would “provide a new level of teaching to all ages of students which is not currently possible with the existing site facilities”.
Julia Willison, director of learning and participation at Kew Gardens, said: “We’re excited to welcome people to this amazing building that will offer outstanding educational experiences for all. This is Kew’s first-ever learning centre and will signal a step change in how we engage people in learning about plant and fungal science and how we can work towards managing the Earth’s resources more sustainably.”
Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter