April 1 2025

The City of Edinburgh Council and CCG have commenced delivery of 19 homes for social rent at a former depot at Cowan's Close, Newington.

The conservation area will play host to a tenement block and communal rear garden modelled on a 1930s tenement next door by Ebenezer Macrae.

Anderson Bell + Christie with Kraft has put a new spin on this traditional approach to blend into the locality with matching brick and natural slate while offering a variety of energy-efficient and wheelchair-accessible properties.

Incorporating storage for mobility scooters the new development will draw the building line out to the street with blank gables and a steel frame deck access structure to the rear, with zig-zag balustrades to screen air source heat pumps.

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron said: "Edinburgh is in urgent need of new affordable and accessible homes to address the shortage of suitable accommodation options for residents who have disabilities and residents who are wheelchair users."

The applicant is liaising with Hope Cottage Nursery School opposite to offer the shared use of the landscaped backcourt.

2 Comments

#1 Posted by Freshly on 1 Apr 2025 at 10:57 AM

Poor chaps stigmatised even by architecture. April fool?

#2 Posted by Sven on 7 Apr 2025 at 12:07 PM

Reminds me of those council flats you see on the DLR covered in drying clothes and bikes and other junk. Balconies are good, open entry closes are poor.

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