Construction begins on £21m Edinburgh office block
February 1 2017
The Mint Building, designed by Hoskins Architects, will offer 61,000sq/ft of grade A office accommodation with 11,000sq/ft of retail and restaurant space occupying the ground floor.
This will necessitate clearance of a series of existing buildings on the site and refurbishment of a Venetian Gothic warehouse and will be delivered in tandem with an adjacent property, The Edinburgh Grand, which is being converted with the help of Morgan McDonnell into 50 serviced apartments and a bar.
Chris Stewart, chief executive of Chris Stewart Group, said: “The project will create state-of-the-art offices and retail / restaurant space to sit alongside renovated traditional Edinburgh architecture and bring to an end a lengthy period where the site has been vacant and in a state of disrepair. Once the project is complete Edinburgh can look forward to a regenerated and strategically important city centre destination.”
Together the development is known as The Registers and forms part of the £850m St James Quarter regeneration drive.
The scheme will breathe new life into a forgotten corner of the city
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6 Comments
#1 Posted by Graeme McCormick on 1 Feb 2017 at 12:35 PM
Looks a bit like a model building kit I got as a Christmas present in 1962
#2 Posted by Wayne Blanchard on 1 Feb 2017 at 22:16 PM
At last, a city centre new-build that complements its surroundings! And it replaces horrid 60s/70s edifices that should never have been built in this classic square. Along with the tastefully appointed Apple Store on Princes St. and Harvey Nichol's having replaced the unsightly bus station, this neglected corner of the city - hopefully further enhanced by the new St. James Quarter and other initiatives in the back streets - is set to become a magnet for tourists and locals alike. I must confess to missing the days when Rankins Fruit & Veg. was located on the very spot of this new-build, but hey....
#3 Posted by Pleasantfield on 2 Feb 2017 at 13:06 PM
Yeah, not too bad at all. Massing seems reasonable. Only crit is that it might be good if the roof material was darker like a slate. Aside from that its the first decent effort in a while.
#4 Posted by disappointed on 2 Feb 2017 at 13:12 PM
What do they mean 'it will breathe new life into a forgotten part of the city!?'...i can't think anyone has forgotten about this site...it was just difficult to get hold of from the clutches of Romanov.
The seagulls view does nothing other than to reinforce the disappointing bland and inappropriately boxy approach to roof-scape and massing- a big old horizontal line that jars with the context. This won’t look good from the Old Town, pity we don’t have a view from the New Steps. It is however, consistent with the massive grey lump look promoted by Harvey Nics’ albeit with glazing and I am sure it will be well detailed and executed by developer and architect.
upper storey. Yes, its better than the building its replacing.....just.
The seagulls view does nothing other than to reinforce the disappointing bland and inappropriately boxy approach to roof-scape and massing- a big old horizontal line that jars with the context. This won’t look good from the Old Town, pity we don’t have a view from the New Steps. It is however, consistent with the massive grey lump look promoted by Harvey Nics’ albeit with glazing and I am sure it will be well detailed and executed by developer and architect.
upper storey. Yes, its better than the building its replacing.....just.
#5 Posted by Andrew Hepburn on 2 Feb 2017 at 15:51 PM
Wow! An opportunity to build in one of the city's most prestigious areas and all Hoskin's can achieve is mediocrity.
#6 Posted by Islands of sanity on 2 Feb 2017 at 18:31 PM
I still lament the loss of the nearby Scottish Provident building and despair at its replacement. The same practice is still in the wings for the unfortunate Royal HS hotel proposal. So much for the WHS. As for this proposal, agree with Andrew H.
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