St Andrews Botanic Garden Education facility

Formerly the boiler house for the gardens this elegant 1970’s structure was sitting redundant and in need of a new life.

RKA won an invited design competition for the refurbishment and transformation of the building into a new education space for use by school groups, visiting groups and the University. It also provides a multi use space for staff meetings and board meetings.

A sustainable solution was a key brief driver as well as being a fundamental part of the masterplan we are developing with the Botanic Garden. We reviewed natural breathable insulations, cork render and re-use of existing materials as part of the design.

To minimise the heat build up internally and avoid air conditioning we re-designed the south facing glazed façade to include solid timber panels at high level with glazing moved to a lower level to reduce thermal gain and increase connectivity with the public spaces outside. Using the chimney as a natural stack effect vent provides a low tech cooling solution as well as integrating a periscope that will allow students to look out over St Andrews.

Planning permission granted. Pre site works undergoing