Craigmillar development is intended to respond to the challenges presented by our society’s ageing demographic, the scheme seeks to promote an intergenerational approach to integration of care, in a non-institutional environment, which is positively engaged with the wider community.
In accordance with Craigmillar’s Urban Design Framework, the PBSA and Assisted Living components of the scheme aim to reinstate the street edge to Niddrie Mains Road, with four storeys of new accommodation complete with commercial units, active frontage, and new public realm at their base. The arrangement terraces down to two storeys towards the rear of the site, affording the Dementia Care Facility a more domestically scaled and secluded environment. Each of the blocks are interspersed with a series of characterful external courtyard spaces, with their own distinct landscaping and spatial qualities, engendering a rich and varied environment for residents and staff alike.
Surrounding the site to the North and South are a concentration of B-Listed Art Deco buildings, which are drawn upon to inform both the language and materiality of the development. With a connection to home being of key importance in designing for dementia, the familiar forms of Edinburgh tenemental bay windows punctuate the facades of much of the Dementia Care Facility and the Assisted Living Residences, providing significant access to natural light and taking in picturesque views of Arthur’s Seat to the North, and Craigmillar Castle to the South.
