Newsletter - Links - Advertise - Contact Us - Privacy
 

Murphy makes waves with a twin frontage Princes Street vision

March 17 2025

Murphy makes waves with a twin frontage Princes Street vision

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
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
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 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 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
The southern stretch could double as a performance and events space

18 Comments

Sir Ano
#1 Posted by Sir Ano on 17 Mar 2025 at 10:32 AM
Genuinely had to check it wasn't April 1st.
Bill S
#2 Posted by Bill S on 17 Mar 2025 at 11:08 AM
I wonder when the RMA office took a staff trip to Alicante?
Rankielass
#3 Posted by Rankielass on 17 Mar 2025 at 11:19 AM
#1 I think it looks like an interesting solution to problem that's the result of Princes Street no longer being a shopping Street. If only we'd buried the tram or at least used a system without the need for overhead catenary cables.
Juli
#4 Posted by Juli on 17 Mar 2025 at 11:20 AM
Why on earth do we need a Burle Marx Copacabana esplanade along Princes Street?? Has Murf finally lost the plot? Maybe we should just pave the parkside with a tartan pattern of stone sets, sourced from across Scotland. Grey for Aberdeenshire, sandstone for Edinburgh, gold for the obvious folly that this represents.
KLD
#5 Posted by KLD on 17 Mar 2025 at 11:26 AM
The claim that Princes Street is "on life support" bears no relation to reality. I was there on Saturday and it was packed with pedestrians. The new Popeye's had a queue coming out the door. Three old department stores were in the process of being restored as hotels.

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 Observer
#6 Posted by The Observer on 17 Mar 2025 at 11:44 AM
Nice scheme, but come on WTF is with the Copacabana pastiche. Makes it look mickey mouse.
Ben
#7 Posted by Ben on 17 Mar 2025 at 12:51 PM
A hideous and totally inappropriate attempt to revive this dying stretch of Edinburgh. Think a more suitable shot in the arm should avoid taking its cue from 1990s regional coastal towns in the Costa Del Sol. Edinburgh is so wet and windy that they council would probably be inundated with lawsuits within the first year alone! Hopefully this scheme never sees the light of day.
alibi
#8 Posted by alibi on 17 Mar 2025 at 20:46 PM
Presumably a provocation rather than a genuine proposal, so lets all calm down.

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.
Roddy_
#9 Posted by Roddy_ on 18 Mar 2025 at 00:27 AM
Proof positive that good architects often don't make very good urban designers or landscape architects.
town planner
#10 Posted by town planner on 18 Mar 2025 at 09:24 AM
Currently there are two bus lanes going in both directions along Princess St. It's not uncommon to have the breadth of four double decker buses between pedestrians on the pavement obscuring views to the Old Town and Edinburgh Castle. This issue alone desperately needs addressed, and also to open up access to the greenspace in Princess St Gardens.

I welcome this initial contribution from Richard Murphy, with a final design competition still to come.
KB
#11 Posted by KB on 18 Mar 2025 at 09:29 AM
....'Princes Street'....just saying
Freshly
#12 Posted by Freshly on 18 Mar 2025 at 09:58 AM
@2 Check Copacabana promenade.

Premature April 1st is premature :)
Showbiz Sam
#13 Posted by Showbiz Sam on 18 Mar 2025 at 10:28 AM
Now, obviously this is just a starter for ten as such, but it is amusing considering this in the context of The Cockburn Association and ECC et al. You do have to laugh. Good luck with this, see you in the next aeon, by which time the closure of one bus lane will have been acheived just as the next ice age cometh.
town planner
#14 Posted by town planner on 18 Mar 2025 at 10:43 AM
#11 - Doh!
Gay Gordon
#15 Posted by Gay Gordon on 18 Mar 2025 at 11:25 AM
Totally illiterate urban design. These guys have no idea how to design space and should be parked on the naughty step permanently!!
Mark
#16 Posted by Mark on 18 Mar 2025 at 23:23 PM
This is dreadful and illiterate, on many levels. The proposal doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously, but let’s assume we give it the benefit of the doubt:

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.
Morty
#17 Posted by Morty on 19 Mar 2025 at 16:02 PM
Whatever happened to the Ross Pavillion redesign competition? Surely they should try implement that first before a wholly inappropriate copy-and-paste Brazilian jobbie is ploncked down?
Jake Janobs
#18 Posted by Jake Janobs on 21 Mar 2025 at 10:33 AM
Also, what would this look like during the 9 months of the year when it is too cold to hang about outside?

Post your comments

 

All comments are pre-moderated and
must obey our house rules.

 

Back to March 2025

Search News
Subscribe to Urban Realm Magazine
Features & Reports
For more information from the industry visit our Features & Reports section.