Dobbies Head Office Extension

Dobbies Head Office Extension

Dobbies Garden Centres has applied to Midlothian Council for planning permission to double the size of its head office building at Melville Nursery, Lasswade.
 
The £3.5m development involves a 22,000 ft² extension to the existing 19,000 ft² building. Backed by new owners Tesco, Dobbies has ambitious expansion plans and the intention is to increase the size of the Midlothian head office to manage this.  The extension would include a staff gym, breakout areas with coffee bars and would increase staff capacity from the current 100 head office employees to 300.
 
Stuart Wright, Director of Property at Dobbies, said: "Dobbies has a long horticultural heritage and is committed to staying at the forefront of garden centre retailing.  As our business grows and develops we need to create extra capacity at our Midlothian head office, where we have been based for nearly 100 years.  We will be working closely with the Council on the plans in order to obtain permission for the application."
 
In line with its overall philosophy, Dobbies seeks to place environmental sustainability at the heart of all of its buildings and is exploring a number of eco features for the extension. These include the installation of a biomass boiler, which could eventually provide heat for the whole of the Melville site, a grey water system and imaginative use of renewable timber in the construction to create a natural look and feel to the building.
 
Dobbies, which has been inspiring gardeners since 1865, now operates 24 stores across Scotland and England. The company plans to open three more stores in 2009.