Case Study: Mixed Use Redevelopment of Advocate s Close, Edinburgh

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1 Case Study: Mixed Use Redevelopment of Advocate s Close, Edinburgh Occupying an historic site within the heart of Edinburgh s Old Town, the Advocate s Close development successfully creates a vibrant new quarter within a previously run down and unloved part of the city. Retaining and rehabilitating all of the existing buildings, reinstating historical building forms and the characteristic herringbone street pattern, whilst inserting sensitive contemporary additions, this project cleverly knits together previously disparate elements to the breath a new lease of life into the heart of the historic World Heritage site.

2 Project Overview Situated in the heart of Edinburgh s Old Town, this historic site was formerly occupied by the City of Edinburgh Council, encompasses 9 listed buildings over 11 storeys, and spans across 4 closes between the High Street, Cockburn Street and Market Street. The site drops over 10 storeys from the top to the lowest level, and buildings range in age from 16th to mid-20th Century. While many of the buildings are listed, the majority had been much altered since their construction including reckless internal subdivisions, removal of upper levels and the termination of public footpaths. The mixed use scheme provides a new 208 room hotel - the UK s first Motel One - 50 serviced apartments on the upper levels with restaurants, offices, bars and cafes opening onto and enlivening the surrounding squares and closes, creating a new sense of place whilst delivering significant benefits to the city s economy. Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Motel One Refurbishment and extension to form new hotel, regenerating public amenity at Market Street and Cockburn Street Roxburgh Court & Warriston s Close Refurbishment and extension to form new restaurants, office and serviced apartments Advocate s Close Refurbishment and extension to form new office and serviced apartments Tower building Refurbishment and extension to form new bar/bistro opening out at ground level with office space above Office New build office building which defines the entrance of the reinstated pedestrian link to News Steps Plan as proposed - Roof plan coloured to show construction phases

3 View from Warriston's Close of Roxburgh Court and Old Town Chambers Formal view across Roxburgh's Court View from The News Steps Link of Morgan McDonnell Architecture office Existing view from location of The News Steps Link to Advocate's Close The Advocate's Close bar on ground floor of Tower Building Side view of the derelict Tower Building View from The News Steps of Tower Building and Old Town Chambers Previous view from The News Steps looking east View from Adam Bothwell's House of Morgan McDonnell Architecture office and Old Town Chambers Previous view of rooftop to building between Roxburgh's Close and Warriston's Close, looking towards Princes Street

4 Historic Context The site occupies an area of Edinburgh s Old Town bounded by the High Street (Lawnmarket) to the south and Market Street, on the edge of Princes Street gardens, to the north. While the city chambers complex of buildings sits immediately to the east, the western boundary comprises a mix of landscaped garden ground and tenemental and office premises fronting on to both St Giles Street and the High Street. The site is within the Old Town conservation area and the UNESCO designated world heritage site, within which over 75% of all buildings are listed. The characteristic herringbone pattern of development in the Old Town evolved from the tight feuing of property fronting the High Street and was well established by the mid sixteenth century. The close grained pattern of long, thin merchant houses and tenements separated by narrow closes developed on plots originally occupied by single houses with private gardens to the rear. Around mid 18 th century the development within this framework accommodated population of 70,000 along the Royal Mile and the pressure of overcrowding provided the impetus for designing of a New Town by James Craig in The area of the development is centred on Advocate s Close, a steep and narrow close off The Royal Mile leading to Cockburn Street. It takes its name from Sir James Stewart, the first Lord Advocate of Scotland, who served in this role between 1692 and 1713, and had his house in the close. Following demolition of many of the tenement buildings through the 19th century, the site became home to the offices and printing press of the Evening News. The City of Edinburgh Council then gradually acquired ownership over the course of the 20th century, before vacating in th, 17 th, 18 th century early 19 th century mid 19 th century late 19 th century early 20 th century mid 20 th century Aerial CGI as existing - coloured to show construction eras late 20 th century C.1858_View of site from Scott Monument at Princes Street C.1987_View looking down Warriston's Close View looking down Advocates Close before redevelopment View at former Motel One on Market Street

5 Approach The challenge was to create a vibrant commercially successful new quarter combining rehabilitation of historic buildings and public realm with alterations and interventions which participate in the continuing organic architectural evolution of the Old Town. The design borrows from the eclectic range of historic architectural forms and styles, each redolent of their particular era, to continue the established pattern of overbuilding and modification. Whilst retaining all of the existing buildings, new build elements have been carefully added, often reinstating the historic form and mass of the site (picture 1). 1. Objectives The aim was to bring a series of new uses and integrate them into the complicated medieval framework of steep and narrow closes, including a new roofscape. The formerly blocked off Roxburgh s Close was to be re-opened, and a new pedestrian link promoted to link Advocate s Close and the News Steps on one site of the site, and through Roxburgh s Court to Warriston s Close on the other. All historic fabric of interest, both listed and unlisted, was to be retained. A gap site on the mid point of Advocate s Close contains the only completely new build element on the site and is now Morgan McDonnell Architecture s new office (picture 2). However the building line follows the historical tenement line, successfully reinstating the western edge of the Close whilst preserving the critical view down the Close of the Scott Monument (picture 3,4)

6 Materials and construction New rooftop extensions were built to replace previously removed upper floors. These were designed to ensure a clear historical distinction exists between old and new, a process which is entirely characteristic of building in the Old Town, whilst unifying the different elements through the careful selection of building materials. Due to the number and wide age range of existing buildings on the site, a variety of external materials were present. Most were built of exposed random rubble or ashlar stonework, however later alterations were finished in grey render, or exposed brickwork and concrete. The material palette chosen unifies these disparate elements, replacing the grey render with a buff coloured render and using natural sandstone, slate, dark grey terracotta cladding, timber and aluminium for new building elements (picture 2). New grey aluminium windows complement the surrounding cladding, in contrast with the existing timber windows which were overhauled and repainted white. A number of existing facades were retained whilst the internal structure was modified or, removed and completely replaced with a new steel and concrete frame. This was necessary to allow a two storey reinstated gable block with crow steps to be constructed above. Oversailing issues meant a crane was impractical, therefore hundreds of steel beams were brought into the building by a system of tracks and pulleys, a major logistical issue in itself. Existing timber beams and cast iron columns were carefully removed, with the timbers stored off site, redressed and reused, most notably as fixtures and furniture in The Devil s Advocate bar (picture 1) Result The development conforms to the original brief and manages to address the historic context, the steep topography, the complex surrounding roofscape, the sensitive views and the limited access via narrow closes. At street level, a variety of commercial units were accommodated, including a restaurant, offices and a bar/bistro. Roxburgh s Court has been revitalised, street activity increased and pedestrian movement throughout the site encouraged, thereby adding vibrancy to the area (picture 3,4). A new pedestrian thoroughfare linking Advocate s Close with The News Steps was also created (picture 5)

7 Most of the commercial units like Motel One (picture 1,2) and Old Town Chambers (picture 3,4) had end users in place prior to completion or shortly afterwards,. Following the main contract, a further 19 serviced apartments were created in adjacent Adam Bothwell House and elsewhere within the development. Old Town Chambers has been a terrific commercial success, with apartments varying from compact studios to spacious penthouse apartments experiencing an overall occupancy rate of 87% during the last 6 months of 2014, well above the industry average. Five stars were awarded from both the AA and VisitScotland, immediate proof of the high standards of design and management appropriate to its World Heritage location. Old Town Chambers is now Edinburgh s second largest serviced apartment provider Since completion, the Advocates Close development has been warmly received within the local community, and has won a number of architectural and design awards. This included the RIAS Andrew Doolan award for Best Building in Scotland where the judges described it as urban weaving at its most complex. Most importantly however, the area between Warriston s Close and Byres close is now a vibrant community and once again forms an important part of the fabric of Edinburgh s historic Old Town.

8 Project Details: Name of Project: Advocate s Close Location: Advocate s Close, Edinburgh EH1 1ND Type of Project: Mixed Use Scheme Form of Contract: Design & Build Client: Chris Stewart Group Architects: Morgan McDonnell Architecture Ltd Main Contractors: Interserve, George Sharkey & Sons Ltd Planning Approval and Listed Building Consent were granted in July Advocate s Close 1939 Advocate s Close 2014 You can contact us: Photography of completed development by Kevin McCollum Morgan McDonnell Architecture Ltd Address: 5 Advocate s Close, EH1 1ND Edinburgh Phone: +44 (0) mail@morganmcdonnell.co.uk