April 18 2019

ICA is leading efforts to create a 269-bed student residential build on vacant ground at 543 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, at the junction of Chesser Avenue and bordered by the Water of Leith.

The U-plan site will house two separate blocks of accommodation set amid private landscaped grounds with living/kitchen areas arranged vertically fronting Gorgie Road. Here a setback top floor is finished in a light grey render and carried down the centre of the gable to break the mass into two sections.

In a design statement, ICA wrote: “The gable of block A is immediately adjacent to a listed church and as such, is scaled appropriately so as not to diminish the character of its neighbour. In addition, the gable is set back within the site to allow a landscaped entrance and setting for the church.

“While block A is setback block B has a strong presence on Gorgie Road, reinforcing the urban streetscape and bringing an appropriate density to the site.”

Banded brickwork will break down the six-storey volume into a top, middle and base.

6 Comments

#1 Posted by Stylecouncil on 18 Apr 2019 at 11:32 AM

Man, thats grim....

#2 Posted by A Local Pleb on 18 Apr 2019 at 13:45 PM

Oh dear, ICA's residential designs are as mundane as their hotel work.

#3 Posted by Daniel on 18 Apr 2019 at 14:21 PM

Isn't this the site that previously had an awful "mews house" development proposed for it?

Either way, I can see why everything here is so poor. The main road is so oppressive that it just doesn't matter what you're doing there, because... what's the point?

#4 Posted by #4 on 18 Apr 2019 at 16:42 PM

Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station has more design sensitivity and elegance.

#5 Posted by Jaded on 19 Apr 2019 at 07:25 AM

I can't think of any other country that would put up something so bleak on a nice stretch of river. It must take extra effort to make this so ugly.

#6 Posted by John on 19 Apr 2019 at 09:09 AM

Every single of these images proves how this design does not work.

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