January 8 2021

Detailed plans have been filed for the redevelopment of 108-116 Dundas Street, supplanting existing office stock with a combination of 44 flats, ground floor commercial and basement parking.

Following on from an extensive digital consultation by Morgan McDonnell Architects and Rankin Fraser Landscaper Architecture, the project will see two separate 1980s buildings, one designed by Hugh Martin & Partners and the other by Ian Burke Associates, demolished.

Maintaining the split form the replacement will retain a visible 'break' along Fettes Row with recessed balconies and entrance helping to turn the corner from Dundas Street, with apartments along both frontages stacked above a commercial plinth. complementing planned development of the New Town Quarter.

Outlining their approach the architects wrote: "The design of the proposed Fettes Row elevation utilises a consistent pattern of full height windows ordered within a horizontal hierarchy through the introduction of continuous sandstone string courses that define the ground and first floors as the equivalent of the Georgian piano nobile. Tooling to the lower levels is proposed to describe a contemporary rusticated base course whilst responding to the aluminium clad commercial plinth of the returned Dundas Street block.

"The topmost storey has been conceived as a setback lightweight glass and aluminium clad box which caps off the building."

A communal green space will cover cycle and car parking with a brown, self-seeding roof enhancing biodiversity. 

1 Comment

#1 Posted by Dulnain on 12 Jan 2021 at 16:22 PM

The development replaces two set office blocks set back from the pavement and matching the existing building on the other side of the street. This in effect forms a northern gateway to the New Town which is worth preserving. The proposed architectural treatment with the first/second floor window treatment jars with the proportions of the Georgian buildings in the vicinity. Please think again!

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