Thistle Garden Rooms, Edinburgh

A new-build community-centred building in the heart of Craigmillar, Edinburgh, on behalf of Thistle, the leading Edinburgh based health and wellbeing charity.

The new building will replace the existing single-storey Garden Suite which was built in the 1950s and which currently provides a venue for a number of courses and classes including Tai Chi and indoor curling for people living with disabilities and long-term health conditions such as MS, hypertension, diabetes and depression. This building is no longer fit for purpose as it has deteriorating building fabric, is expensive to maintain and no longer provides sufficient space to meet the ever-increasing demand for support from Thistle.

The new ‘Garden Rooms’ will be built on the footprint of the existing structure, located adjacent to Thistle’s award-winning Centre of Wellbeing - a previous collaboration between Thistle and 3DReid which opened in 2016. Reflecting its diverse use, the new building will house a main activity space, a communal kitchen, a craft and wood workshop, a yoga and tai chi studio and a meditation/mindfulness space.

The proposals also include the re-design and enhancing of the associated landscape to promote greater flexibility, accessibility and use of the surrounding space.