NESS Gardens will have a new £2m visitor centre ready in time for Easter.
The building, which will open from 10am on Good Friday, has been named the Horsfall Rushby Visitor Centre in honour of the late Betty Horsfall who provided substantial funding for the project.
The distinctive wooden structure, single-storey and sympathetic in its construction, absorbs part of the existing building which houses the lecture theatre and conservatory and features an imposing pyramidal central roof light, surrounded by a living, green sedum roof.
The needs of catering, exhibition, conference, teaching, retail and plant sales have been carefully considered, allowing the building to accommodate a wide range of activities which are essential for the future viability of the gardens.
The opening of the centre also marks an exciting phase of development at Ness.
Plans for a new children's play area and large-scale tree-house to appeal to younger visitors have been unveiled and the project - PlayfulNess - has already secured £35,000 from the North West Development Agency's Rural Enterprise Programme.
Also on view to the public is a prehistoric garden newly-recreated from an existing clay marl pit.
This swampy garden has been designed to imitate Jurassic-era terrain and contains plants common to that period like prehistoric conifers.
