Restoring the Palm Houses
Watch our March 2022 update
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The Garden’s Tropical and Temperate Palm Houses, built in 1834 and 1856 respectively, are in urgent need of repair and restoration to their stonework, metalwork and glass.
Part of Scotland’s architectural heritage, they are home to Scotland’s National Living Collection of plants, but their condition has declined over decades, rendering them extremely fragile and at risk.
The Edinburgh Biomes project will protect global plant science and conservation through the restoration of the Palm Houses, ensuring the future of these A-Listed historic buildings and the precious plants that they house.
Watch the short film below to learn how we are saving them for the nation.
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Support the Restoration
The restoration of the Palm Houses is an ambitious but truly vital undertaking and every gift we receive will be invaluable in enabling us to accomplish this project.
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Restoring the Palm Houses
| Time | Description |
| [Jamie Bateman, Restoration Architect] The Palm Houses are now almost 200 years old, and they’re certainly feeling their age. There’s been quite a bit of deterioration on them and if we don’t do anything with them, then they’re not going to be reliable in the future for protecting the plant collection that’s held here. | |
| When you restore a building like this, we need to understand what we just have to repair because it’s deteriorated over the years, and where there’s actually a fundamental problem with the fabric of the building. The gutters and downpipes on this building aren’t sufficient, particularly when you take climate change and increased intensity of rainfall into account. | |
| What we want people to see when they come to look at this building once it’s complete, is that an old friend has been restored and made smart again. But we also want them to come and see something new that they haven’t seen before in the building. | |
| For example, we’ll be taking away the screen between the two glass houses and, for the first time in a generation, people will be able to appreciate the two spaces together. | |
| And also, the smaller Palm House at the back here, for the first time, people will be able to see the outside of that building, as part of the public tour. Come the end of this project, we want these buildings, which have already survived for 200 years, to be good and safe for another 200 years, so that they can continue to protect the plant collection and to help to preserve biodiversity for future generations. |