Plant Houses, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh

G A H Pearce, architect to Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, Scotland, 1967 (see Notes). 420 ft long greenhouse on sloping site with unattached wing to NW connecting with 1854 Palm House; basement to E end of main greenhouse. Sloping sides and pitched roof; steel frame, aluminium alloy glazing bars and doors, and glass. Main structure suspended on steel cables from an external tetrahedral lattice framework of inter-linked 3 inch diameter steel tubes which project upwards from the eaves; main tubes interlaced by thin rods. Concrete base. Exposed basement to centre with large windows between fin-shaped concrete piers to N and S. Battered concrete-clad wall to E. Entrances to gable ends with aluminium glazed doors and flat rectangular canopies. Deck-access to E end and N; external concrete staircase to N from basement to main level with large rectangular canopy.

INTERIOR: main greenhouse divided into 5 sections by steel and glass partitions; central temperate section with exposed basement and concrete footbridge at main-floor level across N side.