November 1 2024

Planning consent has been granted for a new headquarters and warehouse for evangelical publisher The Banner of Truth.

Aitken Turnbull was commissioned to consolidate existing offices and warehouses operated by the Edinburgh-based charitable trust on a single site at Gilmerton Road roundabout, Dalkeith.

In a statement, the practice wrote: "Architecturally, the challenging brief is to combine two distinct functional requirements, an office and large warehouse elements, into a single unified building. One requires light, views and connections to outside and the other needs solid walls, large blank volumes and strictly controlled views and access.  

"Our vision for the project is a container of knowledge, the two distinct functions of the plan are focused around books and their storage, in the warehouse shelving and the library elements. The repetitive form suggests modularity, referencing books in a shelving or library system."

Combining office space warehousing and a library in one structure split between the glazed office element and a largely blank warehouse component. Metal cladding panels are arranged on a large vertical grid extending beyond the inhabited space via projecting vertical fins.  

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