Murphy makes waves with a twin frontage Princes Street vision
March 17 2025
The accidental rise of Princes Street as Edinburgh's lopsided shopping thoroughfare could be put in balance for the first time since the Georgian era under a double-barrelled vision set out by Richard Murphy Architects.
Rising to the challenge presented by recent developments, not least the St James Quarter which has left the street on life support and mindful that retailers seek to turn heads towards their wares, hard to achieve when you have a world heritage site opposite, the practice advocates the replacement of 'cheap shops and boarded up properties' with hotels, cafes, restaurants and leisure development.
Improved traffic management would reroute an endless procession of buses to Hanover Street with bus stops concentrated at Frederick and Castle Street - freeing up valuable real estate from the choking convoys of buses. Further interventions to improve the north side pedestrian experience include the introduction of a cycle path between bus lanes and pavement with planting and public realm further softening the harsh urban environment without intruding on castle views.
Outlining the need for action the practice wrote: "There are 39 bus lines that each stop at one of six bus stops between Hanover Street and South Charlotte Street. The buses often use the tram lane and then pull over onto a continuous bus stop lane. Although the pavement is wider than most, the perception from a pedestrian might be of constant bus traffic with its resultant noise and fumes pollution (albeit electric buses are already arriving). Pushing this further away and obscuring the lower sections of the bus might help in this regard."
In tandem with these improvements, the team, which includes Calum Dalgetty and Cameron Duncan, call for the removal of the 'anachronism' of railings to Princes Street, together with widening the pavement by up to 8m. This would provide space for small retail pavilions at select locations. Further changes would see a sunken 'parade of restaurants' created below the new pavement.
A 'sunken parade' of restaurants would open directly onto the gardens ina similar fashion to the National Gallery
New paving, street furniture and planting would open up the north side of the street
The new street would also enhance the gardens below
The Roberto Burle Marx seafront in Rio has been borrowed for the design but it is hoped that an international design competition could be launched for any final scheme
The southern stretch could double as a performance and events space
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18 Comments
If what it boils down to is people being concerned about "cheap shops", how is a fancy pavement going to address that? Just because a shop sells cheap wares doesn't mean it pays the lowest rent, so what is going to incentivise private landlords to go for more upmarket tenants?
The problem with Princess Street is that its a mile long bus station with shops (the tram infrastructure is a secondary issue to the double decker busses), and whilst this proposal identifies the problem, I'm not sure it actually resolves it.
The idea of breaking out into Princess Street Gardens is an interesting one, though with obvious knock-on effects.
I welcome this initial contribution from Richard Murphy, with a final design competition still to come.
Premature April 1st is premature :)
Who’s going to buy out the leases of the “cheap shops”, then incentivise hoteliers and restauranteurs to take their place? Are RMA actually Mary Portas in drag?
I thought we were trying to improve public transport connections in cities – how would removing buses from Princes Street achieve that? Presumably if you’re concerned about a street being “choked” with buses, you’ve just shifted the problem to Hanover Street.
Introducing a cycle lane between a bus lane and a pavement has been shown to be dangerous for blind people, the disabled and folk with pushchairs – so why suggest it again here?
“Bus engine fumes” is a non-issue because some buses are already electric, and many others are hybrid, so the diesel engine isn’t running when they pull away from the stop.
Richard Murphy must have a short memory – Edinburgh couldn’t afford to build the Princes Street Galleries scheme which Allan Murray won in competition in 2002. Spookily, it had a similar concept, ie. creating a piazza for pavement cafés at street level, and building a lower tier of shops. https://www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk/edi-galleries
Oh, and Roberto Burle Marx called – he wants his LSD back.
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