January 26 2023

A second round of consultations is taking place for 104-108 Princes Street, Edinburgh, as part of a redevelopment of the site by 3DReid Architects for hotel use.

Hunter Real Estate and Ruby Hotels propose major surgery to the city's showpiece retail thoroughfare by improving ground floor shopfronts to reference historic facades.

Key to the intervention is a replacement building at 107/108 Princes Street, intended to improve sightlines to a B-listed neighbour with a recessed top floor. Reinstating the historic block pattern of the site the intervention will extend to Rose Street South Lane at the rear with a courtyard improving the setting of the Liberal Club.

Outlining the extent of repairs to the retained building at 104/105 the team wrote: "New stonework will infill the lost façade, to be reclaimed from site where possible. The existing rear stone façade will be restored and visible within the scheme. Recycled glazed bricks will be used where possible forming a reflective lightwell."

An in-person event takes place today between 12:00 and 18:00 in the James Clerk Maxwell Room at the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

An application for full planning consent is expected in March with construction likely to begin early in 2024. 

3 Comments

#1 Posted by KLD on 27 Jan 2023 at 14:25 PM

It looks pretty good, but the townhouse in the middle is like a broken tooth. I would like to see it replaced with a link building of the same massing as the flanking buildings.

#2 Posted by Bonvivant on 27 Jan 2023 at 16:45 PM

The existing building isn't great, but I think I prefer it to the fussy proposed one.

#3 Posted by MV on 29 Jan 2023 at 18:05 PM

I think this looks good. I agree with #1, the wee building is strange and out of scale with everything on Princes Street. It might be one of the original buildings, but surely not worth keeping?

I love a good sketch.

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