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Q U A R T E R L Y M A R D I G E S T JACOB’S LADDER
LANTERN LANDMARK
BRIEFS
A dramatic path hewn from the volcanic rock of Calton Hill has reopened following a programme of extensive repairs and improvements carried out by Edinburgh World Heritage. Jacob’s Ladder benefits from new lighting and handrails as well as stonework repairs allowing people to traverse all 140 steps from Calton Road to Regent Road in style, rewarding those who make the effort with expansive views (see pg 4).
Patrizia has unveiled ambitious proposals to transform Aberdeen Market with an eye-catching ‘lantern’ tower. Overseen by Halliday Fraser Munro the scheme would include the creation of an outdoor market, public square and enlarged Green, achieved by shifting the main frontage east, with 130,000sq/ft of office space and active ground floor uses earmarked for new build elements.
Moxon Architects have brought a Braemar hotel back to its best following an extensive renovation of The Fife Arms. The B-listed venue has been subject to a wide-ranging overhaul at the hands of current owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth, co-presidents of art gallery Hauser & Wirth, reconfiguring the layout to accommodate a new courtyard and extensive art collection.
COTTAGE INDUSTRY
OTAGO LANE
LBA has won planning consent for a radical renovation of an existing cottage in Anstruther, Fife, by subdividing an existing property into two homes. Located at 5 Ellice Street on the edge of the Cellardyke Conservation Area, the project will see the current dwelling extended via a single storey rear extension and boundary wall through the current rear courtyard.
Queensberry Properties have gone back to the drawing board at Glasgow’s Otago Lane with the submission of plans by jmarchitects for 49 flats in four blocks along the riverbank. Two storey setbacks are introduced at a high level to soften apparent scale with a palette of light brick above a darker base course. Landscaping is by RankinFraser.
Mast Architects have obtained planning consent for a mixed-use development at Clydebank’s Queens Quay, centred on 146 apartments for social rent overlooking the Titan Crane. The first of a number of high-density residential developments planned for the waterfront the homes will be operated by Cube and Clydebank Housing Associations and adopt a robust urban form in response to a desire by West Dunbartonshire Council to create a new focal point for the town. A fundraising campaign has been launched to raise capital in support of a wholesale reimagining of Princes Street Gardens to create a landmark destination at the foot of Edinburgh Castle. The Quaich Project is the brainchild of the Ross Development Trust which aims to establish a new venue on the site of the current Ross Bandstand to designs by GRAS and wHY.
WESTERN HARBOUR 7N Architects have fleshed out their plans for a new neighbourhood on Edinburgh’s neglected waterfront with the submission of detailed plans for Western Harbour. A collaboration between Forth Ports
and Rettie the project will deliver 938 homes as well as shops, commercial space, a health centre and primary school – all centred on a huge new park incorporating play areas, meadows and woodland.
Expresso Property and Holmes Miller Architects have brought forward plans for the latest addition to Glasgow’s Pacific Quay, a waterfront office block offering some 60.000sq/ft of accommodation. The property will be finished in fibre cement boards, metallic panels and welded steel mesh.