Edinburgh Development Summary

[HKG]

Leith area has built a lots of new flats, I live in Lochend RD ,Leith.
Here is where I live,they built in year 2000.

[belle]

Amidst the flurry of responses to Bayley's Observer article on Bath, this one caught my eye:

Elegant Georgian 'classicism' has always been best exemplified by Edinburgh. There, a vibrant city has always known how to reinvent itself, unafraid to shock the bourgeoisie with the new, although never at the expense of the old. Surely the citizens of Bath will some day tire of living in a theme park with such a moribund ethos.
Carolyn Kirton
Aberdeen

An intriguing point of view.

[Joe 2007]

I love Edinburgh!. It is a beautiful City, and i've just recently returned from a short break there (my second this year). These modern developments look really attractive, and blend with the old architecture well. Where abouts are they to be built?

[QUOTE=zipper;15421104]

[oats]

These proposals are for the West End - Morrison street good's yard, that opposite Haymarket train station (where there is currently a large nothing space).

You're totally right - Edinburgh is fantastic! I quite like these proposals, and with a regenerated Haymarket station, the area could end up looking quite different and be, architectually, quite exciting.

[Joe 2007]

Thank's a lot Oats! Your right. This could lead to a completly exciting modern district, full of great contemporary architecture, blended in with those beatiful old buildings.

[schemie]

so thats what they are building there... lots of random cranes in the west end around the 10/15 storey height.. should be great when these projects start to rise. Although this city strangely has a great skyline without any skyscrapers. 1 zillion church spires and a big ol' castle make sure of that.

[maccoinnich]

Not quite sure what part of this is news, but here you go anyway:

£150m campus roads revamp
BRIAN FERGUSON
CITY COUNCIL REPORTER (bferguson@edinburghnews.com)

A MULTI-MILLION pound blueprint to transform a large part of the city centre surrounding Edinburgh University's campus was unveiled today.

The £150m masterplan would turn the "dead zone" around the Potterrow flyover into an area of walkways and a new public square bustling with pavement cafes.

The busy dual carriageway itself would be replaced by a single lane road, and the street plan overhauled to make the area more pedestrian-friendly. The developments envisaged for the Bristo Square and Potterrow area over the next ten years include linking the historic Old College and Bristo Square with a string of new buildings.

The two are currently connected by an underpass.

The student union at Potterrow would be bulldozed and replaced by a new facility that could be used for events at the Edinburgh International Festival.

The ten-year masterplan will be the subject of a major consultation exercise over the next few months.

...continues over at the Edinburgh Evening News

[amchoochoo]

i don't really see what the problem with the area is at the moment, "dead zone" is certainly harsh. the bit around the back of the old college and the festival theatre is nice and quiet. it's not like the built a motorway through the campus anyway, the road's not that big.

[oats]

I say excellent news - Potterow is one of the most dreadful buildings at the univeristy - I've hoped for a while for demolition. As long as it's done well - the buildings on Bristo square (McEwan, Teviot and the Concert Hall) are amazing and potterow looks shit besides them, a cheap nasty building of any kind will.

One thing that sounds a bit odd- the article goes on about creating a pedestrian link between Bristo Square and Nicholson Square - there is one already besides the informatics site...???? Crazy people.

Shame there are no plans to demolish appleton tower....*sigh*....that's the one way to really improve Bristo square.

[mrmojo]

Appleton tower is nice inside, completely renovated. Desperately needs refurbished on the outside though.

[mieszko966]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

I'm spending holidays in Edinburgh and I was in Fountainbridge today's morning. I've seen a construction site nearby the brewery, but I wasn't conscious that there is such a big project to be build. I think it's a great idea, becouse this part of the city is not that beautyful as the rest of Edinburgh. In my opinion, this project surly will change that at last.

[maccoinnich]

It's been a learning experience
SARAH HOWDEN
(showden@edinburghnews.com)



WITH its imposing buildings, colourful history, famous graduates and worldwide academic acclaim, Edinburgh University remains one of the Capital's iconic institutions.

Founded in 1582, it was the fourth university in Scotland and the sixth in the UK. For decades the university existed in a hotchpotch of Old Town buildings and Georgian townhouses until the early 19th century, when the Old College was built on South Bridge, creating the first campus.

But the university was destined for greater things, having already been hailed as the leading centre of both the Scottish and European Enlightenment, and quickly became one of Europe's principal universities, producing an endless stream of talent. So the institution rapidly expanded, resulting in 21 schools, nine faculties and three "colleges" today - the hub of which is at Bristo Square and George Square.

Now, the expansion is to happen again. As part of a £150 million masterplan to transform a large part of the city centre surrounding the campus - unveiled earlier this week - the university is also set to undergo its latest makeover.

...continues with a bit of history of the campus at the Edinburgh Evening News

Personally, I'm rather fond of the Potterrow union, and will be sad to see it go. It's by Morris & Steedman, who are better known for their excellent residential work of that period, and while the building is flawed, it's not without merit either. I think the courtyard plan works very well, and it's one of the few buildings that gets heavily used from first thing in the morning until 3am the next day (at the weekends). It makes me a little sad that they keep sprucing it up with crappy indoor materials like carpet - they should really be making it more outdoor, with perhaps better paving and more plants. In urban terms though, it makes very poor use of the site, and has an awful relationship with the surrounding streets. I'm sure that with a realigned street layout, they could fit in a new student union etc, and many more academic buildings as well. I'm slightly surprised that they doing this though - I think the union is still in debt from constructing the building in the first place!

Pedestrian link between Nicholoson & Bristo squares: yes, you can walk between them at the moment, but it's through a crappy path and the arse end of the management school. The road layout there is going to slightly realigned for access to the car park once it reopens, and there should be better landscaping, and one day, better buildings, along the route. The RMJM masterplan shows it as a visual corridor that should be maintained.

Personally I think that the refurbishment of Appleton Tower is awful. It was a good move to glaze over the concourse and expose the structure, but other than that, it's really cheap looking and poorly thought out. I think there is a plan to reclad Appleton Tower in the medium term. Despite appearances, it's not actually necessary right away, but will be within the next 10-15 years. It's really telling though to compare how well Appleton and David Hume towers have aged.

[oats]

I really like the David Hume Tower, and the materials used on it are excellent and distinctive. Appleton's grey exterior of tiles and concrete is just terrible, it always makes a grey day all the more depressing! And on any day it ruins the view from the National Museum's roof terrace!

[oats]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

The RMJM masterplan shows it as a visual corridor that should be maintained.

Oh...and where did you see their university masterplan?

[maccoinnich]

David Hume Tower lovers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose except your friends.

I truly agree though, it's a great building. Matthew at his best, doing his weird mixing of functional modernism and Scottish vernacular.

Appleton Tower will never demolished, it's far too useful for the university. Despite popular rumour, it's structurally sound, and no, wouldn't fall down if all the windows were open at once (which is completely illogical, but I've heard said many times). It provides them with a huge amount of flexible floorspace, and they'd never get permission for another building of that height.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by oats

Oh...and where did you see their university masterplan?

I've seen a paper copy of it. At a quick search, I can't find it online anywhere, although it might well be on the CEC planning portal. However, the planning report for the informatics building makes reference to the masterplan, and is available here (PDF).

[oats]

Good choice of banner I think today...!

[schemie]

Theres been some big talk here at Napier Uni about the Sighthill revamp. They mention at every opportunity that they are spending £77m on demolishing the current building there (the former business school, currently houses administration and the like) and building a new home for the School of Creative Industries which is currently located at Craighouse - the former asylum at Morningside.

[maccoinnich]

'Crucial' plans for exhibition space at EICC back on track
BRIAN FERGUSON
CITY COUNCIL REPORTER

MULTI-MILLION-POUND plans to expand Edinburgh's flagship conference centre are set to get back on track - months after developers pulled the plug on the long-awaited scheme.

City council leaders have unveiled plans to kick-start the creation of a major underground extension to the 12-year-old complex below a new office block next door to the existing centre.


The council and the company it set up to run the Edinburgh International Conference Centre are to join forces to deliver the development, rather than put it out to tender again.

However the new facility for the centre - which will give it vital extra banqueting, exhibition and function space - will now not be ready until 2012 at the earliest, three years later than envisaged.

Work is not likely to start for another couple of years because the council needs to put together a £28 million funding package.

City council leader Jenny Dawe said: "It is absolutely essential that this additional function space is provided at the EICC.

"There's no doubt Edinburgh is missing out on big events because of restrictions on the space that is available, particularly in relation to the big medical conferences.

"The delay is very unfortunate but there was nothing we could do to prevent the developers pulling out. It does seem better now to carry out the development ourselves, and that is how the EICC was built in the 1990s."

Building work on the EICC extension had originally been envisaged to start in 2004,the plans having been put out to tender two years previously.

...continues at the Edinburgh Evening News.

[krainer]

Why isn't there a separate forum for Edinburgh?