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Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning 2003

Application form

This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically (pdf version) on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning . Please complete all four questions. The deadline is 12 September 2003. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.

Please provide a name and contact details of the organisation responsible for this work. If partners were involved, identify the lead organisation, and then list the other partners/bodies who had a key role.

Name of key partners (if appropriate)

Please complete the form by providing a brief summary (in no more than the space provided) of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude, with a key reason, as to why you think this work merits an Award.

Please tick the key criteria which relate to this entry:

You must describe in your written submission (below) how the criteria which you have ticked relates to your project.

Description of project

The Holyrood North Site, within the Old Town , is one of the largest and most exciting regeneration projects to occur in Edinburgh for many years, and resulted from the closure of the Scottish and Newcastle Breweries' Canongate operations.

The sites, together with sites on the south side of Holyrood Road, amounted to over 5 hectares of development land. One main aim was the sale of land at the north of Holyrood Road to help fund a commemorative project to William Younger, one of the founders of the brewery, now known as Dynamic Earth.

Management, design quality and community involvement were important aims.

Timescale (over which the project has developed)

The Canongate Strategy was drawn up by Edinburgh Council in 1987. There followed considerable uncertainty in the development sector, which could only be unlocked by establishing partnership approaches. A developer competition was held and finally decided in 1993.

The last of twenty-one individual projects and considerable public realm works are due for completion in 2003.

Context (the problem which had to be addressed)

The Canongate, and the Holyrood North Site lying to the south of this part of Edinburgh historic Royal Mile, is located within the Old Town Conservation Area.

Its spatial structure was set by the traditional burghal pattern of land ownership, divided into long narrow strips of house and toft stretching away on either side from the route joining Castle and Palace.

Whilst there was some development to the rear in the Canongate, and wynds and closes were established to serve this, development was not on anything like the scale found within the walled burgh and instead consisted mainly of grander houses like Moray House, Huntly House, Acheson House, Queensberry House.

As much of this ground served as formal gardens often well into the 19th Century, institutional and industrial development were able to develop rapidly. Industrial development included breweries tapping into an aquifer which lay in the same alignment as the Old Town ridge. In 1900, there were seventeen breweries in the area. By 1985, the traditional industries were in decline and the character of the Canongate was changing to mixed uses and housing.

The development site area is set within an unrivalled townscape and landscape setting and was of an unprecedented scale for such an historic and central part of the City. Its scale and sensitivity was apparent to the Council and the Planning Function undertook early work to offer guidance on how appropriate regeneration could be taken forward.

Action taken

Setting out Expectations:

In 1987, a report was approved by the Planning Committee titled "The Canongate Redevelopment Strategy". In forseeing the opportunities that were arising, the Council embarked on a process of consultation with the local community, landowners and other relevant bodies, including the Old Town Committee for Conservation and Renewal (now part of the World Heritage Trust) on appropriate policies to guide development. The Strategy, set within the historic and development plan context, sought development that promoted the physical, social and economic regeneration to increase population of the Old Town, create jobs and stimulate the City's cultural role. There was a concern to integrate the community at Dumbiedykes with the Canongate. It set out recommendations on how the traditional spatial structure, townscape and wide mix of uses could be reintroduced.

Innovative Approach:

This breadth of vision was special for the time and encouraged an innovative management process, with permanent liaison being established throughout the length of the project with SEEL and with the Council. Together with S&N, a staged competition was held on the disposal fo the site in which demonstration of how quality design was to be achieved was just as, if not more, important as the financial bid submitted. Indeed, one of the conditions was a right to accept less than the highest bid to achieve quality.

A Sensitive Design:

The eventual winner was Development Services Partnership Limited, backed by the Cruden Group, and which had engaged John Hope Architect as master planner. Their proposals took on board the essential ingredients of the Canongate Strategy. The introduction to their proposals includes the following statement: "Invading the delicate structure of the Old Town requires an awareness of how it has been shaped by historic population densities and patterns. With a belief in its future as a living centre of activity, it is then possible to plan for cohesive and organic development. Our proposal balances this sensitivity with impeccable planning and management skills, placing good design in a context of innovative and responsible management."

Regeneration:

SEEL and DSP Ltd held regular management meetings to progress the project with attendance by other members as required SEEL helped to fund site preparation and demolition works and some of the early projects were carried out by Housing Associations helping to pump prime and realise development quality aspirations. Often individual projects had to be brought together with their own partnership arrangements between public and private sectors. Planning allocated a specialist Urban Designer to liaise with DSP Ltd and John Hope to ensure the proposals tied in with and interpreted the approved master plan and to progress consequent individual planning applicahons. The first full planning application was for all the external works for the consultant master planner and the Council's Planning Function to establish a consistent approach and context for the many different projects. It included an innovative approach to dual use vehicle/pedestrian routes respecting the typical Old Town pattern of lanes and closes, some of which were 'rediscovered'. The master plan submission had already included limited competitions carried out at risk by prominent architects. Six out of twenty-one porjects consisted of regeneration of existing buildings which help both to set a framework for the new as well as ensuring the retention of the best of the old.

Results achieved

Some fifteen years following the preparation of the Canongate Strategy, the overall project is largely complete. There has been considerable complexity in its setting, in the assessment and retention of historic structures and in the treatment of ground conditions including shafts sunk for the former brewery operations. Successful progress has not only relied on considerable professional knowledge, but has helped to progress it across a range of professions wider than those traditionally involved in planning and architecture, including those in the arts and crafts, housing, finance, project management and legal spheres.

The street improvements focused on Holyrood Road and enhanced pedestrian permeability through the site to the Canongate and will be a catalyst for the integration of existing and new communities across a wide socio-economic spectrum. The increased population has secured the future of local convenience shopping that had been steadily diminishing.

The following development has been achieved:

• Residential : HA Units No 43, Private Rent No 33, Student accommodation 97 places, Private For Sale 128
• Cultural facilities: National Poetry Library, Royal Fine Art Commission Office/Exhibition Space, BBC Studios
• Office Space : approximately 60,000 square feet
• Hotels: One 157 bed 4 star hotel; one 41 apart/hotel
• Shops No units 3, plus other retail spaces
• Restaurants : one/public house: one

Conclusion - Why does this piece of work merit an Award?

Conclusion Why does this piece of work merit an Award?

The co-ordination between agencies has 'added value'. The principles of the Strategy have helped in the development of the recently prepared city-wide Edinburgh Standards for Urban Design. Considerable credit is due to the initial strategy, the master plan, continuing liaison between Planning and the implementation agencies, and sensitive project management in seeing the successful interpretation and implementation of principles in a contemporary manner to demonstrate the best of design today.

Several of the individual projects, including both social and private housing, have received Saltire Awards, one project being described by a former Scottish Environment Minister as "the best social housing in Europe". The Scottish Poetry Library has in addition won several important architectural awards. The entire site won the Dynamic Place award for Open Spaces. This award recognised area enhancement and urban streetscapes, enhanced accessibility and attraction for visitors, improved amenity and community benefits. The commendation noted "A redevelopment which, while echoing historic old town street patterns and scale, creates an important new place within the City and helps to weave the Holyrood area into the City Centre". It is visited by professionals and tourists as well as proving popular with residents and businesses. Whilst still relatively 'young', it has created a place where people want to live and in fostering community attachment and involvement, it is fulfilling a key sustainable objective. The project is currently the subject of a special exhibition held at The Lighthouse - Glasgow, Scotland's Architecture Centre, which will transfer later to the Royal Fine Art Commission, now itself housed in one of the existing buildings at the Holyrood North Site.

Submitted Evidence:

1. Canongate Strategy

2. Holyrood Project North Site - Master Plan

3. From Master Plan to Implementation - examples

Date
03 September 2003

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