May 30 2023

An elevated hotel at Edinburgh Airport is set for a smooth landing with planners minded to grant full planning consent to the upside-down design.

Turning traditional hotel architecture on its head the HLM design places front-of-house services on the roof to provide guests with aerial views across the tarmac from a site at 4 East Mains.

The plane spotters paradise is being built by Creos Property who have lined up Radisson Red as operators for the venture, which includes eight floors of guest bedrooms below the sky bar.

Confirming their recommendation in a committee report the chief planning officer wrote: "The site is a suitable sustainable location for the proposed development and the use is compatible with the character of the locality. The proposal is considered to provide due regard to global climate and nature crisis and will not result in an unreasonable loss of neighbouring residential amenity."

In a statement posted following the notice Creos wrote: "We've prioritised excellent design to ensure the hotel will create a new landmark building on a key entry route into Edinburgh. It will also deliver exceptional sustainability performance, economic benefits to the area and improvements to the public realm."

Construction is pencilled in for summer 2024. 

4 Comments

#1 Posted by juan de los angeles on 31 May 2023 at 17:12 PM

'Landmark' perhaps for the wrong reasons. Why do airports get such dismal architecture? When was the last time a beautiful building, i.e., much more relatable as a landmark, was built near one?

#2 Posted by Neil on 31 May 2023 at 18:45 PM

Actually I like this one - a cut above the usual airport hotel suspects and with a bit of imagination evident in the massing and fenestration. Promising.

#3 Posted by Peter on 1 Jun 2023 at 08:49 AM

A sea of car parks, a cow show, a couple of derelict farmyards, other carbuncle hotels, pay&ride, but you gonna need a good binoculars for plane spotting being 1km from the airstrip obstructed by all above. Well done, marketing!

#4 Posted by Sarcastic Dan on 1 Jun 2023 at 13:01 PM

#3 - ah yes, the abundance of highrise carparks, high-rise cow shed condominums and farmland skyscrapers will definitely obstruct ones view of the planes. Shame those pesky planes tend to stick so low to the ground too!

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