Plant Houses, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh

The Plant Houses at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh were designed by G A H Pearce, architect for the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works in Scotland, in 1967. This 420-foot-long greenhouse is situated on a sloping site and features an unattached wing to the northwest that connects with the 1854 Palm House. The main greenhouse has a basement at the eastern end. It has sloping sides and a pitched roof, constructed with a steel frame, aluminium alloy glazing bars and doors, and glass. The main structure is suspended on steel cables from an external tetrahedral lattice framework made of inter-linked 3-inch diameter steel tubes that extend upwards from the eaves, with thin rods interlacing the main tubes. The base is made of concrete, and the exposed basement at the center has large windows between fin-shaped concrete piers on the north and south sides. The eastern wall is battered and clad in concrete. There are entrances at the gable ends featuring aluminium glazed doors and flat rectangular canopies. Access to the eastern end and north side is via a deck, and there is an external concrete staircase leading from the basement to the main level, topped with a large rectangular canopy.

Inside, the main greenhouse is divided into five sections by steel and glass partitions. The central temperate section includes an exposed basement and a concrete footbridge at the main floor level across the north side.