March 9 2021

A 0.167ha dog leg industrial site off Leith Walk in Edinburgh's Pilrig Conservation Area is to provide 34 car-free apartments under new plans submitted by Morgan McDonnell.

The work will see an existing warehouse at 27 Arthur Street , home to local arts Charity Rhubaba Gallery and Studios, swept away to provide modern accommodation on a tight urban site. A mix of light and dark masonry will be employed to break up the apparent massing with set back areas finished in dark grey PPC raised seam cladding with matching dark timber battens fastened to windows.

Development would extend over former gardens and a yard to the rear backing onto a new communal garden, accessible from a pedestrian and cycle lane. Upper floor residents will also have access to a range of gardens and terraces at different levels for outdoor amenity.

In a planning statement, the practice wrote: "The design of the Arthur Street facade seeks to complement the neighbouring buildings and break down the proposed mass into a residential scale. The rear elevations seek to introduce subtle variations to the material and form of development to harmonise with the prevailing characteristics of the surrounding residential terraces and tenements."

In all 20% of the site will remain as usable green space with a ground floor corner unit serving as a communal bike and bin store. 

7 Comments

#1 Posted by Pleasantfield on 9 Mar 2021 at 12:49 PM

Gosh an " anonymous brick warehouse to be swept away and replaced by " an anonymous brick devoid of design apartment block". Isn't architectural design on a real
high just now?

#2 Posted by Craig Sanderson on 9 Mar 2021 at 14:43 PM

Good afternoon.
How many of the 34 units will be for SOCIAL rent?
And how many for mid-market ('affordable') rent?
Thank you and regards.
Craig Sanderson.

#3 Posted by John Glenday on 9 Mar 2021 at 15:06 PM

Hi Craig - Eight of the flats will be classed as 'affordable' to meet the 25% ratio required by policy - including two three-beds and six two-beds.

These will be tenure blind and will be managed by Port of Leith Housing Association.
http://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/files/DC51995801D2A42104F29DAD0B7712BD/pdf/21_00991_FUL-AFFORDABLE_HOUSING_STATEMENT-4889813.pdf

The remainder will be offered at market rates.

#4 Posted by StyleCouncil on 10 Mar 2021 at 22:03 PM

These guys take bland to a new level.
RIP the anonymous warehouse...

#5 Posted by Peter Amoore on 6 Apr 2021 at 08:37 AM

The ‘anonymous warehouse’ is currently home to local arts Charity Rhubaba Gallery and Studios - an organisation which gives work space for between 20-24 studio holders at a time and has built an exhibition and events programme there for the last 11 years, installed the glass frontage and launched an ongoing community choir. For community spaces like this to be flattened to make way for (un)affordable housing 75% open for buy-to-let is not the affordable housing Leith needs.

#6 Posted by Tom Nolan on 6 Apr 2021 at 08:46 AM

Wow, sorry but this is obnoxious and misleading. The ‘anonymous’ brick building that would be ‘swept away’ (and, as previous comments point out, replaced by a new form of anonymous brick building) is actually home to an internationally respected grassroots arts charity which has been welcoming people to (and from) Arthur Street for a decade. It is also home to a production company. I don’t question the need for genuine affordable housing in Leith, but the arrogance of the language around this proposal, the low proportion of affordable apartments (also available as Buy to Let!) and the suggestion that this is a ‘car-free’ development simply by virtue of not providing parking space on a street that is already completely lined by cars, all mean this is not the sort of proposal that will solve any of the issues that planning departments and indeed architects and investors need to be working towards.

#7 Posted by John Glenday on 6 Apr 2021 at 13:51 PM

@5/6 - Apologies for the oversight. I've corrected the piece to reference Rhubaba Gallery.

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