The Sphinx Association was a community group made up of tenants of a tenement block in the Lawnmarket in central Edinburgh. Based on European research (particularly from Copenhagen, Denmark), they aimed to facilitate the co-operative purchase and environmental renovation of the building to provide affordable housing to the members of the group.
They received Sustainable Action Grant funding for part of the cost of a feasibility study to determine how - with an offer of tenant buy-out from their private landlord and putting the building into co-operative ownership - it would be possible to renovate the building using ecological designs, implement energy saving strategies and a waste minimisation and reuse strategy.
The target outputs from the study were to include assessment of the condition of the building, recommendation for indicative designs and identification of sources of project funding. The study was also to investigate the cost and sources of funding for a 'community backyard' scheme to provide improved sustainability in terms of waste minimisation, and community/social interaction.
However, although consultants drew up a project proposal changed developments on ownership led to the study not being completed.