Shoppers flock to Edinburgh's St James Quarter
June 24 2021
A 16-year journey to revitalise the Edinburgh St James Centre is drawing to a close with the phased opening of the 850,000sq/ft retail-led destination.
Having watched the centre rise, transforming the skyline forever in the process, the public can now venture inside a dramatic curved galleria, modelled on the sweeping crescents which define the New Town.
Project architect Allan Murray, now at Allan Murray Design, talked Urban Realm through the design ahead of the opening: "It's got one major move which is the curved gallery, it invites you through. It's not a door as such, it's the threshold made by two buildings. The curved galleria is no different to the baroque geometry of the New Town and that's what makes it special. If you look at Google Maps it looks like another crescent."
More than just another shopping centre St James is conceived as a natural extension of the New Town, standing as a knuckle that connects the Old and New Town's while resolving the awkward geometry of roads that disconnected James Craig Square and the Registry Lanes area from the beating heart of Princes Street.
"This is in the liminal space between the formal geometries of the New Town and the happenstance messiness of the Old Town," says Murray. "It's got a leg in both parts. We wanted to recognise that it merges the two."
The opening comes at an inauspicious time for the retail economy but in a show of confidence over 40 retailers have committed to phase one, including a range of food and drink pop-ups along Little King Street.
"It's nothing to do with a shopping mall, it's creating a new space in the city. We can shop online but you can't sit in a cafe and people watch," remarks Murray.
The £1bn development replaced the 1960s St James Centre and will welcome a steady stream of phased additions through the remainder of the year including a cinema, hotel and apartments.
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23 Comments
World class Kalahari hunter gatherer level -- the twist at the end is the giveaway according to a friend of a friend who knows about this kind of stuff.
But poo none the less.
I fear that the design team was trying too hard -- no pun intended.
Its such a shame because the entire scheme (which is overwhelmingly positive in my view) will, quite rightly and understandably, be judged by the turd.
The scheme will be judged for what it is - on the face of it, an outdated and unnecessary form of urban planning, with a sub standard quality to the building fabric and a centrepiece that yells for attention. In practice, maybe it will be successful...only the footfall will tell. I sure hope it is successful, though ah huv ma doots, unfortunately
#7 The hotel detracts from the world heritage status of Edinburgh’ skyline. It is important that it is understood as a poor addition. That is why the name Golden Turd is both appropriate and should be used by people of all ages and stages of mental development.
One thing which I feel has not been in enough of the debate is, what the impact this centre has (will have) on the city centre. In my opinion the crescent is more like a U magnet, sucking the city centre to the east. What will happen to the west?
I would be interested to see how many of the "over 40 retailers have committed to phase one" are already in the city centre and how many will be vacating units elsewhere in the centre to open new stores here?
Like it or not, this will prove to be exceedingly popular for those who want to shop without the gauntlet of tourist.
As for architectural merit... time will tell.
That being said, I've still got plenty of time for AM due to the, in my view, success of the Missoni. Decent response to a tricky series of urban constraints, let down slightly by the post-rationalist justification. Architects shouldn't be afraid to say the brief was to create lots of shops that retailer want and that's what we've done.
I read that too. Desperate stuff, and if sincere, even worse.
Take the hotel out of the equation and the scheme is overwhelmingly positive.
The hotel, sadly, is atrocious, and is says little for the judgement of anyone arguing otherwise.
As I said, the development will be judged on it's success. I agree with you. I hope it is successful.
There is negativity, yes. However a lot of that negativity is warranted. Much of that is on the developer, in putting a shopping mall there they are planting a flag to an out dated mode of retail. It's a prominent CC site so attracts a lot of attention.
The turd meanwhile has attracted a lot of criticism (I can see why, I personally don't rate it) but I'm over it now and perhaps like you a little tired of the whinging.
Verbal diarrhoea from architects should however be called out, it's not helpful to bridging the already large gap between the academic 'thinkers' (let's apply that term broadly!) and the general public.
Especially, when it is used in such an incoherent way, as it has been here.
I should also say that 'non-offensive' to me is not a virtue! You might as well call it banal, boring or uninspiring. Which it largely is. Do you think people flock in their thousands to Edinburgh for it's 'non offensive' architecture?
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