Planned Development at Houstoun Mains
Proposed New Dobbies Garden World, Houstoun Mains, West Lothian
What’s your view?
Dobbies, a leading high quality garden centre operator in the UK, is proposing to bring a new state of the art Dobbies Garden World to serve the gardening needs of the West Lothian area.
The Proposals
It is envisaged that our proposals will include the following:
A modern garden centre, locally supplied farm foodhall, high quality restaurant, and specialist aquatics department, all under one roof.
Extensive indoor and outdoor plant and gardening areas including themed demonstration
gardens.
The creation of approximately 120 new full and part time jobs across a wide range of employment types and skills including retail, specialist horticultural and management positions.
Introducing Dobbies
Dobbies has been inspiring gardeners for more than 140 years. Today the company operates 24 garden centres across the country and is headquartered from its historic base in Midlothian, Scotland.
Recognised for high quality plants, our longstanding heritage is now complemented by our popularity as an enjoyable leisure experience and day out destination.
At Dobbies, we recognise that there are some serious environmental challenges that come with running a business responsibly and so we are committed to operating with sustainability in mind.
The Building Design
We intend to bring a new generation of garden centre to West Lothian, built with a sustainable timber structure, one of the first of its kind for a garden centre building in the UK. The proposed design of the building is illustrated in the drawings and the artist’s impression.
We believe that it is important to select the right materials for our Garden World developments. Use of natural materials in the building exterior helps to ensure that the building sits comfortably within the surrounding landscape.
Innovative architectural features will break up the line of the building frontage, thereby reducing apparent scale. We propose to use sustainable timber cladding and screening, along with
green (plant-clad) wall sections and green (sedum) roofing, features which will soften the appearance of the building as well as emphasise Dobbies horticultural roots.
Careful use of glazing will create an open and welcoming frontage, revealing the horticultural activities within and louvred timber screening will be used where appropriate to regulate solar gain for optimum energy efficiency.
Plant protection canopies will extend along the rear of the building, creating frost protection for early bedding stock.
The Landscape
Getting landscaping right is very important with every Garden World we develop. We will create an especially engaging, sustainable landscape with demonstration gardens, specimen ornamental tree and shrub planting and seasonal colour through herbaceous planted borders and bulb planting.
The existing landscaping and other local habitat will be protected and strengthened through substantial planting of native stock woodland, hedgerows and mature specimen trees suitable for the site location and conditions. As a result, views from within and outwith the site will be sensitively treated.
Ecologically sound principles of landscape maintenance and management will be employed to ensure that the landscape grows and matures appropriately to fulfil its role as a rich natural habitat which can be enjoyed by all.
The Experience
Dobbies aim to create an exceptional leisure and retail experience; to inspire, to educate and to entertain through the quality of the environment, naturally-inspired product and a level of customer service befitting the quality experience.
The garden centre will stock a comprehensive range of quality plants, horticultural and gardening products, garden and conservatory furniture, specialist aquatics and water gardening products, stylish homewares, gifts and accessories, all in an inspirational space and setting.
Horticulturally trained staff will be on hand to give assistance and there will be a regular program of in-store events to educate and entertain everyone from school children to people of all ages.
The farm foodhall will offer locally sourced fresh produce, with a delicatessen selection, gourmet treats, cookware and gifts. Strong links will be established with local producers and suppliers, encouraging local economic growth.
The restaurant will provide a pleasing environment in which to enjoy a wide-ranging menu of freshly prepared seasonal dishes and home baking. Carefully selected natural materials will be used to create the comfortable interior. Extensive use of glass in the restaurant exterior will enable patrons to enjoy views to the surrounding landscape and show gardens at all times of year, with the opportunity for outdoor dining during warmer months.
Sustainability
Dobbies is committed to using resources as efficiently as possible during the building and running of our centres. We aim not only to meet regulatory requirements, but to exceed them wherever possible. The proposed centre will incorporate many innovative environmentally friendly and sustainable features, including:
A ‘grey water’ system to recycle rainwater and, if appropriate, a borehole to supply additional water for irrigation purposes.
All timber used in the construction will be from sustainable sources.
Drainage requirements will be planned for in a sustainable way.
The ongoing management and operation of the centre will be guided by Dobbies environmental policy, which aims to continually raise the profile and practice of energy conservation, sustainable sourcing and recycling across the business.
Getting There
Access to the Garden World will be via Junction 3 of the M8, a newly created access road from the Dechmont Roundabout.
Approximately 400 car parking spaces are proposed, including designated spaces for visitors with impaired mobility. We adopt a sensitive approach to car parking by using a variety of surfaces and textures such as block paviour, gravel and hard-wearing grass to ensure that the car park blends appropriately with the natural environment.
We believe that ensuring accessibility by means of transport other than the car is important. The site is ideally located to benefit from a shared footway/cycleway which borders the A89. In addition to this route cyclists can utilise the existing road network. We will seek to facilitate good access to the site location by local public transport, promoting enhancement of existing bus services as appropriate.
