Green scheme will see ‘leaf room’ grown in hospital garden

The seeds have been sown for a leaf-shaped eco-garden at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital, with it being granted full planning permission.

After winning an NHS competition, The Voigt Partnership’s timber-designed Leaf Room is to become the heart of the Ninewells Hospital Community Garden.

The chance to develop the idea into reality has come with permission being granted by Dundee City Council.

The main aims of the project are to provide a safe, accessible, and inclusive environment for gardening activities which encourage unity, identity, community spirit and partnerships, and will encourage participation by a wide range of people of all ages and abilities in garden-related activities that are creative, sociable, educational, healthy and/or enjoyable.

Jonathan Reeve, architect at The Voigt Partnership Ltd, said: “The ‘leaf room’ is inspired from a natural form, helping to connect the building to the garden it serves.

“The proposed building replicates this natural form with a ‘leaf-shaped’ roof overhanging a rectangularshaped room underneath.

“The building will be extremely environmentally conscious, being constructed primarily in natural Scottish timber, and will be uniquely 100% ‘off grid’ – not requiring any service connections.

“There will be a selfcomposting toilet and sink, no electricity requirements (due to the large amount of natural light coming into the building and a solar-powered security light) and rainwater will be harvested from the roof and collected in a large container at the rear of the building to help water the garden.”