SCOTLAND’S DOORS OPEN FOR VISITORS IN SEPTEMBER!

On Friday 10th August at 11.00 am the national Doors Open Days 2018 programme will be launched at The Leaf Room, Ninewells Community Garden, Dundee.

The Leaf Room was the winner of the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place Awards 2018. Jonathan Reeve, Architect of the Leaf Room, said:

To win a national award from the Scottish Civic Trust is an amazing achievement for a tiny building in Dundee, and a testament to the great team we worked with to produce such a superb little garden room.

All over Scotland, over 1000 buildings will be open and free to enter, many of them not normally open to the public and some opening for the first time. Castles, churches, mosques, museums, fire stations, offices, theatres and even a distillery are some of the buildings taking part this year. Visit a Winery and Ciderhouse in Perth, an historic artists house in Angus, a “secret bunker” in Skelmorlie, a candle-factory in Glasgow, and Adam Smith’s birthplace in Kirkcaldy – there is something for everyone! There are talks, tours, heritage trails and plenty more events for all ages.

Doors Open Days is coordinated nationally by the Scottish Civic Trust. It is part of European Heritage Days alongside Scottish Archaeology Month, which is coordinated by Archaeology Scotland. Both Doors Open Days and Scottish Archaeology Month are supported by Historic Environment Scotland. Doors Open Days 2018 is sponsored by Aberdeen Standard Investments and RIAS’s Festival of Architecture 2018.

Area coordinators create and manage local programmes and work for a variety of local authorities, civic trusts and heritage organisations.

Susan O’Connor, Director of the Scottish Civic Trust, said:

Doors Open Day is a fantastic opportunity for communities up and down the country to show off the best of their buildings. We’re thrilled with the range of architectural wonders on display this year and we can’t wait to enjoy as many sites as possible.

Thomas Knowles, Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said:

Historic Environment Scotland is proud to support the annual Doors Open Day initiative as it ticks all the right boxes for projects we consider for grant funding. Not only does the initiative share our values to promote public access to the historic environment, but it also delivers benefits for communities like driving visitation to, and developing knowledge about, properties and places not open year-round.

In celebration of the Scottish Government’s Year of Young People, Doors Open Days created the Braw Buildings Project in partnership with Hostelling Scotland. This will give the chance to over 50 18-25 year olds of discovering more of Scotland through a free overnight stay in Youth Hostels in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Pitlochry and Stirling during Doors Open Days. The successful project participants will then share their experiences through our websites and social media channels.

The Leaf Room is a building that is part of the Ninewells Community Garden in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, and the winner of the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place Awards 2018. The main aims of the brief was to create 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. The new room is a fantastic addition to the garden. Staff, patients and the general public benefit from this excellent community garden which is a real hidden gem at the hospital.

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