A new state-of-the art visitor centre has opened its doors at Dawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders. The building offers enhanced facilities for visitors, including an exhibition space, larger shop and a café serving snacks.
Offically opened on 14 May by Scottish Government Cabinet Minister for the Environment Richard Lochead, the launch of the visitor centre co-incides with the 30th anniversary year of Dawyck coming into the care of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The £1.6m building, funded by the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, was designed by Simpson & Brown Architects of Edinburgh and developed by Borders Construction. It is a model of environmental sustainability: floored with heat-retaining blue limestone, the interior is enhanced by oak frames, structural columns and ceiling beams.
The facility also enjoys the additional features of an external copper wall, designed to shimmer gently within the natural light of Dawyck's stunning arboretum, and attractive copper rain catchers and down pipes. All this is topped by an attractive, insulating roof, planted with a carpet of sedums. Efficient under-floor heating is driven by a biomass boiler, fuelled by wood chips sourced from Buccleuch Estates, housed in the nearby workshops.
Stead exhibition marks opening
To celebrate its opening, the new visitor centre plays host to With the Grain - The Life and Legacy of Tim Stead, a tribute to the life and legacy of borders craftsman and philosopher Tim Stead. First staged at the Edinburgh Garden in 2005, this stunning exhibition of wood has continued to evolve under the guidance of Maggy Stead and her Borders-based team. Its latest incarnation, designed specifically for the intimate space of the Dawyck Studio, includes an impressively vast array of trademark Stead pieces, from the majestic Skeleton King's Chair to the intricate Mask, Mime, Mummy.