Turbine will put the wind up visitors to the Botanics

VISITORS to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are to be greeted by the sight of a wind turbine when the new £16 million John Hope Gateway centre opens next year.

The building, currently under construction, is being designed to be run almost entirely from renewable energy, with a bio-mass boiler and solar panels included in the innovative proposal.

In addition, a wind-turbine will be mounted on top of the centre, overlooking the main entrance on Arboretum Place.

Staff said as well as providing energy for the building, the aim of the wind turbine was to spark debate about renewable energy, with visitors able to see how much electricity it generates.

In response to the repeated enquiries from visitors to the garden, developer Xircon has opened a visitors 'chalet', which looks on to the development and includes artists' impressions of the finished building, a scale model and details of ongoing construction work.

Providing a fanfare for yesterday's opening was musician John Sampson, who dressed up as John Hope, the Regius Keeper and King's Botanist from 1761-1786, and the inspiration for the name of the new Gateway centre.

It is due to open to the public next summer.

Builders admitted the innovative design of the building – which is being created using a large amount of sustainable materials – was "a challenge", but insisted the finished development would look "spectacular".

With almost four months to go until completion, the building is still very much under construction, but already the exhibition and restaurant spaces are beginning to take shape.

Mairi Gillies, the curator of exhibitions for the John Hope Gateway, said the new building's ground floor would include a permanent exhibition detailing the work of staff at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, both in the Capital and at other sites around the world.

"There will be two exhibition spaces, and the main space will be a permanent exhibition on the work of the staff here, and at our other sites, which we hope will be very interactive and stimulating for visitors," she said.

"We will also have a temporary exhibition space, which will feature events such as community artists' work, or the work of botanical illustrators."

The Botanics is also hoping to have live links to allow visitors to see staff working in countries such as Belize and China.

Alex Miller, managing director of Xircon, said the John Hope Gateway project was a great example of the kind of sustainable building he felt would soon become far more common.

"The building is using a lot of renewable materials, with the roof beams and floor slats all wooden, and created by high-quality craftsmen," he said.

"The technical innovations within the building, including the wind turbine, bio-mass boiler, solar panels and rainwater collectors, are the kind of things more and more projects will encompass in future, and the Botanic garden is leading the way in that."

Mary Gibby, director of science at the Botanics, said: "The visitors' chalet has been designed to involve the public in our new building before it is finished, to give them in idea of what it will contain, and to keep them up to date with how building work is progressing.

"Once the Gateway is completed it will allow people to learn more about our work across Scotland and at sites around the world."