August 11 2025

A microhub is set to enhance the vitality of Wester Hailes with the delivery of a workshop for a community gardening group.

Standing as phase one of a planned community hub the building has been designed by Calum Duncan Architects to provide immediate benefits pending delivery of the full project.

Wester Hailes Growing have chosen a concrete paved space adjoining a residential gable at Murrayburn Gardens for their project, with a future main hub to be built on an adjoining plot to the immediate east. Phased delivery will help to segregate uses with spaces oriented south to the Greenway Community Garden alongside.

Hosting groups, activities and an intermittent cafe, the flexible space will double as a workshop and youth training centre - transitioning to a dedicated makers hub upon completion of the latter phase.

Detailing their approach, the architects wrote: "The design for the ‘workshop’ site has now been developed to serve as a Microhub. The design requirements are similar to those of a standalone workshop space, except that there are better facilities for catering and WC provision. Additionally, the Microhub will be a fully insulated and serviced building, where a workshop could have been more rudimentary in the design of the building envelope.

"The building's footprint is more generous in the main space and more compact at the entrance, allowing the roof to provide a small external covered area that signals the entrance and promotes good accessibility practices."

The steeply sloping timber roof permits additional storage options with facades built from hempcrete and then rendered. 

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