April 3 2023

Detailed plans for a new residential district around the recently rebuilt Meadowbank Sports Centre have been by The City of Edinburgh Council and its development partners Graham and Miller Homes.

A project team including EMA Architecture + Design as architect and masterplanner have set out the design principles behind three linked surrounding sites, to establish a 'people priority place'.

Building on a Collective Architecture masterplan the detailed proposals will open up a large site stretching from London Road to an old railway line to the north for active travel, play and recreation. Comprising pocket parks, a path to Lochend Links and areas for community growing the scheme will employ shared surfaces and landscaping to provide attractive spaces for everyone.

In their design statement, EMA wrote: "The architectural language has drawn its inspiration from the context and in particular the tenement buildings opposite on London Road. These properties, whilst in stone, have a single colour with repetitive windows, some subtle linear banding, and a roof profile sloping back from the main façade. These generally run along near the back of the footpath, with a small defensible space at the front that disappears where there is active frontage.

"The window pattern consists of single windows and larger wider twinned windows interrupting the regular pattern. These are articulated by occasional bay windows and a flourish at corners. The proposed architecture is a modern interpretation of the Edinburgh tenement design, but using a high-quality brick, in a similar colour to the stone. Proposed elevations replicate the regular window pattern by a mixture of single and wider windows, in a vertically stacked arrangement, with horizontal banding at each floor level."

The 683 homes include will include affordable apartments and colony housing as well as flats, townhouses and terraces for private sale. An element of build-to-rent accommodation is also proposed with an overall density of 120 homes per hectare.

Split between three character areas the approach would deliver a series of perimeter blocks wrapping around the running track fronted by a series of landscaped urban 'parklets'. A more traditional street layout meanwhile will be employed at the eastern extremity of the site while a third site is reserved for rental properties, which will have a two-storey entrance that opens directly onto London Road as well as low-level access. 

5 Comments

#1 Posted by Roddy on 3 Apr 2023 at 16:08 PM

I like that, simple with a nice pallet of materials.
Decent solid housing

#2 Posted by Candyman on 3 Apr 2023 at 18:33 PM

Decent effort, well done EMA

#3 Posted by The Heart of Saturday Night on 4 Apr 2023 at 09:56 AM

Not sure how much is a result of the masterplan, but the block layout appears pretty arbitrary (oh look, a funny angle!). And the blocks at the far west abutting the stadium are naff - smacks of trying to squeeze too much in.

Elevational treatments look solid though.

#4 Posted by WUG on 4 Apr 2023 at 12:16 PM

This looks decent. The blocks between the running track and the trees could be very interesting. Single vehicle entry point will be a challenge, particularly on weekends!

#5 Posted by Stevie Steve on 4 Apr 2023 at 13:32 PM

#4 - don't worry there's virtually no parking anyway!

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