For nearly 175 years, Sacred Heart School has served as the top Catholic independent school for girls and young women in Connecticut. Located on a beautiful campus in Greenwich, CT, one of the school’s goals is: All members of the School community will support a clean, healthy, and safe environment.
The academy, renowned for its academic achievements, considers its student body as “stewards of creation to combine knowledge with action in efforts toward the protection and sustainability of the earth's resources.” For the 2022 school year, the faculty were interested in expanding their horticultural curriculum into a larger outside classroom space. A school board member, who had previously worked with us on a custom storage shed, recommended that their Grounds Manager, Wilford, make a trip to our Bellingham Design Center to view our greenhouses and discuss options.
Wilford explained to our Design Consultant the goals for their school’s gardening program, especially the types of plants they intended to grow, and noted the potential class sizes needing to fit inside the structure. We considered the budget allocated by the school board for this project and then made a recommendation to best accomplish their needs. The final result is an impressive, custom 12x30 wood-framed Haven Greenhouse.
The interior of the greenhouse, built with southern yellow pine, has plenty of room for larger plantings as well as benches added as a workspace for potting plants. There are four tilt-out vents to help manage interior temperature control. The roof is composed of durable polycarbonate panels providing additional air circulation as well as UV light protection.
The dormered entryway has a custom-built Dutch door is framed on either side by two planter boxes for additional growing space. Beautifully stained Cedar Shake shingles cover the exterior’s walls and green metal trim provides the finishing touch.
Building the structure in our shop was the easy part but once completed we needed to prepare the greenhouse for its long journey from Bellingham, MA to Greenwich, CT. Since the greenhouse was to be placed on a bed of crushed stone, it was built with an open floor space. To be transported safely, the interior needed to be framed with a temporary wooded support structure that could be disassembled after delivery to the school’s property.
The greenhouse then found its way to its new home situated in the gardens of the Sacred Heart campus. The faculty and students are thrilled over their new outdoor classroom space and look forward to the results of the many plantings they hope to produce throughout the entire school year!
Have you been dreaming of your own quality handcrafted greenhouse? Feel free to contact us today to learn more about our custom-designed greenhouses built just for you!
We are super happy. Love the design, it's just as we hoped for.
