Situated adjacent to Old Tolbooth Wynd and the Canongate Kirk, the site sits within the boundary of both the UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Old Town Conservation Area.
The footprint of the building takes cognisance of the existing structures and spaces, enhancing permeability across the site by way of a continuation of the Old Town’s characteristic close and court arrangement. Pronounced level changes across the site have been reconciled to ensure ease of access throughout, with the articulation of its massing being such to stitch the development into the predominant urban grain of the wider conservation area.
A significant portion of the historic built fabric has been maintained, the proposed development inserted into this in a manner that makes entirely legible new and old. This continuing the condition of layered construction that is currently evident, with Victorian-era brick buildings situated on stone rubble structures associated with the earlier Magdelene Asylum and bowling green that once occupied the site.
The development comprises 76 studio apartments. Supporting facilities such as a secure cycle store, large common room, laundry and parcel room are accommodated at ground floor level, with a communal bin store accessed directly off the newly formed courtyard Miller’s Close.
The introduction of rooms overlooking Old Tolbooth Wynd will provide activity and presence to the street, enlivening a currently dark, somewhat intimidating route.
“The new proposal takes cues from the rich language of the Old Town, employing playful corbels, stringcourses and cap-houses in reference to the Scots Baronial style.”
