Edinburgh's historic Palm Houses reopen after five-year, £23.5m restoration that replaced all 5,750 panes of glass

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026.

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has reopened its Victorian Palm Houses after a £23.5m restoration described as the most ambitious in the garden's 356-year history. David Knott, director of horticulture, who says he took his first steps in the Palm Houses as a baby and has spent 16 years at RBGE, described the moment as "excited and relieved." The glasshouses now shelter almost 600 tender plant specimens drawn from 13,500 species across 152 countries, among them plants that no longer exist in the wild.

Every one of the 5,750 glass panes was replaced during the works, which also restored 600m² of ironwork and repaired 500m² of sandstone; some of the replacement stones weigh a quarter of a tonne.

To mark the reopening, the endangered Chilean lion plant — one of fewer than five surviving wild populations on earth — was planted in the collection.

A second phase costed at a minimum of £65m is now in prospect, with fundraising set to begin 'as soon as possible' and the Scottish Government expected to contribute a 'chunk' of the total.