Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Reopens Palm Houses Amid Ongoing Glasshouse Safety Concerns

The palm houses at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) reopened this week following a five-year restoration that installed 5,750 toughened-glass panels. The work preserved the historic sandstone and wrought-iron shell while upgrading the glazing to resist wind-driven impacts and bird strikes. The renovated space now houses more than 600 temperate plants and is intended to serve as a “cathedral-like” environment for the collection.

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RBGE’s broader glasshouse complex, built across the 18th and 19th centuries, remains vulnerable to Scotland’s winter storms. Garden staff report that last year the horticultural team was barred from entering the greenhouses for 20 days because wind speeds exceeded safety limits, and in 2026 the team has been shut out 15 times. When access is restored, workers often wear hard hats to clear broken glass that can fall from deteriorating panels. Such incidents have previously resulted in plants being “decapitated” by falling shards, according to the garden’s glasshouse curator.

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• £23.5 million refurbishment cost

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• 5,750 new toughened-glass panels installed

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• 600+ temperate plants returned to the palm houses

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• 356-year-old garden, the second-oldest botanic garden in Britain after Oxford

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• Glasshouse closures: 20 days (last year) and 15 instances (2026) due to high winds

The Guardian

Garden officials emphasize the dual priorities of preserving historic architecture and protecting plant collections. The glasshouse curator highlighted that falling glass has caused severe damage to specimens, underscoring the need for stronger glazing. The regius Keeper and chief executive described the renovated palm houses as a vast, cathedral-like space designed for temperate species.

The Guardian

• “We’ve had plants that have essentially been decapitated by falling bits of glass,” — Sadie Barber, the glasshouse curator at RBGE

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• “We have made it one vast cathedral-like space for temperate plants,” — Prof Julia Knights, the garden’s regius Keeper and the royally appointed chief executive

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• “Our conservation collections are so important to have. The threats are extreme in the wild,” — Prof Pete Hollingsworth, RBGE’s director of science

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• “The glasshouses are the one thing we don’t want to break. It’s the plants inside that suffer,” — Sadie Barber, the glasshouse curator at RBGE

The Guardian