Edinburgh Architecture News 2013 Lothian buildings, East Scotland property designs
Edinburgh Building News in 2013
Lothian Architecture Developments – Property in Eastern Scotland
post updated 22 February 2025
Edinburgh Building News for 2013
Lothian Architecture Design News
Commemorative Plaques News
Commemorative Plaques to mark Year of Natural Scotland – only two weeks left to submit nominations. This is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of historic figures who have been inspired by the beauty of the stunning landscapes in Scotland, from artists to writers to conservationists, architects and many more – further information on the December news page. 16 Dec 2013
Edinburgh Building News – news in full from December 2013 (archived)
Perth City Hall Building News
Councillors have voted to demolish Perth City Hall after rejecting a rescue plan to convert the B-listed building. Councillors will now resubmit an application to Scottish Ministers for listed building consent to demolish the hall, one of Scotland most iconic concert venues.
If granted, it would pave the way for a resurrection of the council’s preferred option for the site – a new civic square in the heart of Perth. 12 Dec
Aitken Turnbull Architects News
Aitken Turnbull Architects has made an acquisition of Border Architects.
The architecture practice has offices in Dumfries, Edinburgh and Galashiels. Border Architects will relocate with Marc Haslam, and Rob Slaney moving to the Galashiels and Edinburgh offices respectively.
The move follows formation of a ‘strategic alliance partnership’ between the practice and Belfast-based Todd Architects, specialists in health and education. Known as ATTA, the newly formed partnership will see 25 professional and technical staff at Aiken Turnbull collaborate with 35 staff at Todd from existing offices in Belfast, Dublin, Dumfries, Edinburgh, Galashiels and London. 12 Dec
Meadowbank Stadium Redevelopment News
Meadowbank Stadium – 11 Dec
James Gillespie’s High School
Morrison Construction has reached financial close on a £34m project to redevelop of James Gillespie’s High School in Edinburgh. Under the project, Morrison will work for hub South East Scotland, a public/private development company on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council – more on the Dec news. 11 Dec
Arbroath Dental Centre Building
NHS Tayside has submitted plans for a new centre at Arbroath Infirmary, which would include four surgeries and space for future expansion. The proposals were put together by Edinburgh-based JM Architects. 11 Dec
Surgeons’ Hall Museum Renewal
Redevelopment design: John McAslan + Partners
photo from architects
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh has been awarded an HLF grant. 9 Dec
Higgs Space Tech Centre in Edinburgh
A new £11m space technology centre –The Higgs Centre for Innovation – is due to open in 2016, constructed on the site of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) operated by the STFC at the Royal Observatory.Working in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, the Centre will house up to 12 small businesses, as well as academic and PhD posts, to provide PhD students the opportunity to gain entrepreneurial experience as they start their research careers – more on the December news page. 9 Dec
Scotland & Scandinavia
External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop is in Denmark and Sweden to strengthen Scotland’s increasing engagement with the two countries.
Ms Hyslop travelled to Copenhagen on Sunday 8 Dec and met with the city’s Architect Tina Saaby and Scottish architect David Sim from of Gehl Architects – one of the world’s leading urban design and placemaking practices. She also visited the Danish Architecture Centre – more on the Glasgow news page for December. 9 Dec
Newbattle Centre
Morrison Construction has been named as the contractor for the Newbattle Centre, which is replacing the current Newbattle Community High School. The appointment by Hub South East Scotland on behalf of Midlothian Council will see Morrison Construction undertake the £30m project, which has an anticipated completion date of 2016. 2 Dec
The Haymarket Starts on Site
The Haymarket. 29 Nov
Alpine Glasshouse at Royal Botanic Gardens
The first new glasshouse to be built in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden for over 30 years has been unveiled by its architects, Smith Scott Mullan Associates, reports Urban Realm today. 28 Nov
Shrub Place Development
image courtesy of architects
New images of the Shrub Place proposal by EMA Architecture + Design Limited. 27 + 11 Nov
Kelpies Construction Complete
The world’s largest pair of equine sculptures have been unveiled in Scotland at an official topping out ceremony. The Kelpies are one of the UK’s tallest pieces of public art, towering 30 metres above the Forth and Clyde canal near Falkirk. 27 Nov
Charlotte Square Office Building
Morgan McDonnell Architecture have completed work on behalf of Corran Properties on the refurbishment and new build extension at 26-31 Charlotte Square to provide grade A office space at the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town World Heritage site, report Urban Realm. 21 Nov
New Urbanism in Longniddry
Update from Socially Conscious Capital Limited: “The developer behind this project is Socially Conscious Capital. The Prince’s Foundation are not a developer, they merely facilitated the Enquiry by Design workshop to engage with the local community, and use their feedback to compile a vision for the sustainable growth of Longniddry – more information on the November news page. 19 Nov
Whistleblowers in Scotland are Ignored
Standards Commissioner’s Flawed Report Signals Loss of ‘Checks and Balances’ in Scottish Public Life. The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) is taking the unusual step of issuing this press notice to highlight significant failings by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland in his recently published report on the George Square, Glasgow design competition – see the Glasgow news page for details. 19 Nov
Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme
£10 m funding boost for Scotland’s historic towns and cities.
Communities across Scotland are set to benefit from the latest round of Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) funding announced today – more details on the November news page. 19 Nov
Edinburgh Building Development News – news in full from November 2013
Haymarket Station Revamp
photo © Adrian Welch
Haymarket Station will be open to the public. 18 + 13 Nov
Charlotte Square
New photographs of Charlotte Square Edinburgh. 18 Nov
Battle over Longniddry house plans
A new pressure group in Longniddry, East Lothian – ‘Listen to Longniddry‘ – has mailed all houses in the village, flagging up concerns over a potential housing development, accodring to the East Lothian Courier. The development is being put forward by the Wemyss & March Estate and Socially Conscious Capital Ltd via the Prince’s Foundation and it appears the design is going to be New Urbanist, a bit like the new community proposals up north in Chapelton (Aberdeenshire) and Castle Stuart – Tornagrain (Moray).
We don’t know details at this stage but read reports of 750 houses. A poster on the campaign website make a point we’ve been trying to gte across for the last decade, “There are 14,466 empty homes in the Edinburgh City-Region.
A truly “sustainable urbanism” would find imaginative ways of recycling the existing housing stock, rather than constructing new housing on very productive arable land”. The design is by a mix of architects and urban designers, all working for or contracted out to the Prince’s Foundation, all very strong advocates of new urbanism/neotraditional design codes. 18 Nov
Maggie’s North East
Maggie’s Centre Newcastle lighting design by Speirs + Major (Edinburgh & London). This is the most recent of the fourteen Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres across the UK, designed by the Cullinan Studio. 18 Nov
Scottish Architects win at UK Property Awards
A leading Scottish architects firm, McKenzie Strickland Associates, has been named among the winning companies of the esteemed UK Property Awards for 2013.
The Perthshire-based practice competed against a number of architects in Scotland to receive its 14th industry award in just seven years. The company was presented with the award at a high-profile gala and presentation dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London last month – more info on the November news page. 18 Nov
School Repair
A major probe into the way vital school repairs are carried out has revealed a catalogue of failures, reports the Edinburgh Evening News today. But, responding to the independent audit of its failing schools maintenance programme, council chiefs have promised “fundamental change” in the way they are carried out in future.
The review findings are sure to spark concern given the “significant” sums education leaders admit they need to carry out outstanding repairs on city classrooms. Council chiefs said they were well on the way to implementing a package of management improvements aimed at upping performance from 2014-15. 18 Nov
Website Renewal
We moved over to WordPress from joomla yesterday afternoon, it will take a few days to settle down, there are various advantages to the move for both readers and us, such as better sharing and improved updating. The Glasgow Architecture site moved over last Friday. 15 + 7 Nov
Panmure House Restoration
Panmure House, the historic home of economist Adam Smith off Edinburgh’s Canongate has been gifted $1m (£624,000) towards its restoration. The Global Philanthropic Trust’s donation means the conservation work can start in early 2014. The £3m project is led by Professor Keith Lumsden, director and founder of Edinburgh Business School, who also chairs the fundraising committee of the Panmure House Campaign. 15 Nov
Dangerous Buildings
Measures aimed at making it easier for local authorities to recover money spent when repairing dangerous buildings are to be examined by a Holyrood committee.
Introduced by David Stewart MSP, the Defective and Dangerous Buildings (Recovery of Expenses) (Scotland) Bill seeks to bring in “charging orders” which will allow local authorities to recover their costs and expenses where they have carried out work to defective and dangerous buildings. 15 Nov
New Project by Alan Dunlop
We unveiled the first major project by Alan Dunlop on the Glasgow Architecture site today, his first Scottish building design since the break up of gm+ad architects. 15 Nov
Shrinking Cities Edinburgh
photo from organisers
Shrinking Cities | Expanding Landscapes exhibition at Edinburgh School of Art. 14 + 11 Nov
Edinburgh Conference News
Shrinking urban areas can reimagine how cities work, say experts. The depopulation of North American and European cities can be an opportunity to reinvent how urban spaces operate and function, according to experts. Urban farming, new creative public spaces, and inner-city wildernesses are among the innovations that citizens can employ when urban populations start to decline.
The University of Edinburgh is hosting a special 3-day conference to discuss how this contraction actually presents opportunities for communities. International experts will share how cities around the world manage underutilised land – more details on the November news page. 13 Nov
Housing Demand
House prices have risen again as interest from buyers outstripped the number of properties coming onto the market, according to a report, reports BBC Scotland today. The imbalance between supply and demand caused prices to increase during October, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. Its latest survey for Scotland records a balance of 52% more chartered surveyors reporting price increases.
This is the highest proportion since 2007. However, a separate report from the Office for National Statistics showed house prices fell by 1.1% in Scotland over the year to September. 12 Nov
Scottish Civic Trust My Place Awards for 2014
The search is on again to find Scotland’s best new civic project and civic champion for 2014.
In 2014 a Scottish Civic Trust My Place Award will recognise a building or public realm project that has had a positive impact in a local neighbourhood and has delivered tangible benefits to that community. Also, a Scottish Civic Trust My Place Civic Champion Award will be presented to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of their local heritage. Any community based group can nominate a project or person. These can include: local civic trusts affiliated to the Scottish Civic Trust, community councils, history societies, housing associations, arts groups, development trusts and community action groups. 11 Nov
BEFS Annual Congress
Linlithgow Burgh Halls on 19 Nov
The Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS) Annual Congress this year addresses the theme of ‘Mainstreaming the Historic Environment’ as set out in the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland. 11 Nov
Duddingston Kirk
photograph © Adrian Welch
Edinburgh Church Building : new photos of the main building and entrance. 10 Nov
RIAS Andrew Doolan Award News
WASPS South Block, Glasgow wins Best Building in Scotland. 8 Nov
Historic Scotland News
Extensive investment in the historic environment by Historic Scotland over the past five years has levered in over £166m of additional funding.
An independent analysis commissioned by Historic Scotland and carried out by Jura Consultants assessed the impact of a range of investments from 2007-12 – more details on the November news page. 7 Nov
RSA Architecture Open
Showcasing the best in Scottish Contemporary Art and Architecture:
Royal Scottish Academy show. 6 Nov
Quartermile Investment
Edinburgh’s Quartermile urban regeneration scheme is poised to benefit from a £170 million investment. 5 Nov
Surface Design Awards Winners
Two Edinburgh projects shortlisted:
The Scotsman Steps by Martin Creed with Haworth Tompkins / McGregor Bowes
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art by Allison Architecture
The Surface Design Awards champion the best in progressive design and innovative surfaces and are the only international awards to focus exclusively on surface design. 5 + 4 Nov
Scottish Low Energy Housing
Work on an innovative low energy affordable housing development will get underway in Fraserburgh this month, after the project secured £1.4m of Scottish Government funding. Aberdeenshire Council’s housing team joined forces with experts at Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment to submit a bid for 30 low energy units to the Scottish Government’s Greener Homes Innovation Scheme (GHIS), successfully winning a significant share of the £10m fund.
The fund, which was split between 14 projects across Scotland, aims to support house building schemes offering new approaches to the delivery of energy efficient affordable housing using innovative methods of off-site construction. The design for the new development at Fraserburgh is based on the principles of the award-winning sustainable housing previously designed by RGU professor Gokay Deveci in Dunoon. 4 Nov
Edinburgh Interior Designs
We’ve updated our Edinburgh Interiors page, the process is not complete but the page now has a much wider and more topical range of designs from the Scottish capital. Comments always welcome. 2 Nov
Edinburgh Castle wins top UK Heritage Attraction
Edinburgh Castle has been voted the top UK Heritage Attraction. 1 Nov
Marine Research Centre Building
New £17m research centre for earth and marine science is to open at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus. The Sir Charles Lyell Centre is being jointly set up by The British Geological Survey and Heriot-Watt University, and funded by Natural Environment Research Council, Scottish Funding Council and Heriot-Watt University. It will look at key areas including global change and ecosystems, seafloor-mapping using advanced robotic vehicles, earthquake and volcanic risk and monitoring, and energy security. The BGS will move its Edinburgh office to the purpose-built complex which is scheduled to open by 2015. 1 Nov
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Edinburgh Building Development News – news in full from October 2013
Kirkcaldy Leisure Centre
A new £15m Kirkcaldy Leisure Centre designed by B3/Cre8 Architects has opened. Pictured above is the new Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre in Glenrothes which opened back in July 2013. A full set of information and photographs is online for each of these two buildings. 23 + 22 Oct
Tynecastle Stadium News
photograph © Adrian Welch
The Cockburn Association have proposed that the main stand at the Tynecastle Stadium be listed, report the Edinburgh Evening News today. TheHearts Stadium grandstand was designed by architect Archibald Leitch and built in 1919. This would avoid the building being demolished and the Hearts ground being turned into flats. It would stop the club’s main creditor Ukio Bankas will sell the ground to developers to recoup at least £15m in debt. 21 Oct
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Edinburgh Architecture News – news in full from September 2013
Walking Tour News
e-architect have expanded our architecture tours out of Edinburgh and Glasgow in the last few years. We have now architectural tours in 62 cities, including Liverpool, Dublin and Cambridge alongside London which is now well established.
Edinburgh Walking Tours
Quartermile Sale
photo : Nigel Young, Foster & Partners
One of Edinburgh’s largest urban regeneration schemes has changed hands in a “multi-million-pound” deal, reports the Edinburgh Evening News today.
Quartermile has been sold by Lloyds Banking Group-backed developer Gladedale Capital to property investor Moorfield. 26 Sep
Forth Bridge Experience
Forth Bridge Experience. 13 Sep
Edinburgh Guided Tour
Museum of Scotland building – photo © AW
On Monday the 9th September 3 members of the e-architect team showed 64 professional people from Bangkok around Edinburgh Old Town. The walking tour was, despite the weather, a success.
The 3 groups enjoyed the healthy mix of historical and contemporary architecture and general cityscape of the old town. For this group of visitors e-architect put special emphasis (by request) on Edinburgh’s sustainable visions and plans for the future. The group’s favourite point on the tour was the rooftop terrace above the Museum of Scotland. Their biggest concern was the lack of trees (something many of our Asian visitors on tours have said about both Edinburgh and Glasgow city centres) in the centre, though they enjoyed the foliage in The Grassmarket! 11 Sep
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Edinburgh Architectural News – news in full from August 2013
Caltongate News
picture from developers
Calton Gate development – Artisan Real Estate Investors lodges a detailed planning application. 30 Aug
Edinburgh Airport Building News
Edinburgh Airport is to invest £25m in a significant expansion of the airport’s terminal building. 21 Aug
Heriot Watt Student Residences
Heriot Watt Student Residences by RMJM architects. 8 Aug
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Edinburgh Architectural Design News – news in full from July 2013
Edinburgh Architecture News July 2013
Edinburgh News – Recent Scottish Developments
The Cundy House
The Cundy House. 29 Jul
Quartermile Housing News
Quartermile Social Housing by Richard Murphy Architects. 24 Jul
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Edinburgh Buildings News – news in full from June 2013
RIAS Awards
RIAS Awards, Scotland – Winning Buildings + Architects – news
Assembly Rooms Renewal Award
Assembly Rooms renewal by LDN Architects : RIBA National Award Winner – 13 Jun 2013
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New photos added 13 Jun 2013
The Heriot’s Centre for Sport and Exercise in Edinburgh
Heriot’s Centre for Sport and Exercise – new photos added 13 Jun 2013
Edinburgh Building Development News – news in full from May 2013
New Forth Bridge Approval
MSPs give the new Forth Bridge Replacement their official sanctioning in a vote. 23 May
Israeli Architecture
e-architect editor Adrian Welch was on an architectural tour of Israel. He met architects Souto de Moura, Amnon Rechter, Roger Diener, Zvi Efrat and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
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Edinburgh News – news in full from April 2013
Haymarket News
image courtesy of architects
Haymarket – design by Richard Murphy Architects
A controversial development in one of Scotland’s prime city centre gap sites is to start this summer after years of protest and delay, reports the BBC today. The £200m business district is to be built on Edinburgh’s Haymarket. 3 Apr
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Edinburgh & Lothian Building News – news in full from March 2013
Fort Kinnaird Multiplex
Plans for a 1200-seat multiplex at Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh approved. 14 Mar
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Edinburgh Building Design News – news in full from February 2013
Edinburgh BioQuarter Development News
Edinburgh Bioquarter : 3 new life sciences companies move into leading research centre. 7 Feb
Edinburgh School Building News
The City of Edinburgh Council submits planning applications for extensions to four of its primary schools using a modular, prefabricated building system.
Edinburgh Schools – further information on the above
Fortress Holyrood
image from architects
The controversial Scottish Parliament security extension goes on site. There has been a demonstration by architects and reports suggest a visit by Benedetta Tagliabue (of EMBT) might happen. The annexe at the front of the Scottish Parliament building is intended to prevent terrorist attacks by ensuring people go through security screening before entering the parliament building itself – Scottish Parliament security extension. 1 Oct
Comments for this Edinburgh Building News 2013 post are welcome.
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Scottish Capital City Properties
Significant Edinburgh Property – Selection:
Edinburgh Building News – news in full from March 2014 [archived]
Edinburgh Architecture News – news in full from February 2014 [archived]
Edinburgh Building News Summary
Comments / photos for Edinburgh Building News 2013 page welcome