The ambitious project, which still needs to secure full funding, includes a new glasshouse, costing around £7.5m.

This will provide the entry point to a considerably rejuvenated glasshouse experience, taking visitors through refurbished A-Listed modernist Front Range and Victorian Temperate and Tropical Palm Houses.

The new glasshouse has been designed by Dundee architect Nicoll Russell Studios

The new biodome will initially be used as a temporary home for plants being decanted from the Garden’s public and research houses during the seven-year project.

Simon Milne, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said: “Edinburgh Biomes is potentially the most significant project in the Garden’s history and can firmly consolidate our ranking as one of the top four Botanical Gardens in the world. At its centre, this magnificent new glasshouse has the stature to become our iconic building of the 21^st century.”

The proposed first phase of the Edinburgh Biomes plan involves the creation of a new energy centre to reduce the carbon footprint of the Glasshouses by 12%.

A new plant health suite will also replace existing, aging facilities.