| Client | Jansons Property |
|---|---|
| Turley office | Edinburgh |
| Status | Operational |
| LPA | City of Edinburgh |
Transformative change of a sensitive city centre site to form a major hotel development
Our role
- Heritage and Townscape appraisal and advice to gain a thorough understanding of the site and its context, including listed buildings, and vacant land within the Old Town Conservation Area and the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site.
- Provision of Heritage and Townscape advice and advocacy throughout design and planning stages to inform development proposals for Virgin’s first European Hotel.
- The development included conversion and renovation of three listed buildings and sensitive design of a new building inserted within the World Heritage Site, conservation area and setting of highly significant listed buildings.
- Preparation of Heritage Statement and Townscape and Visual Impact Assessment to support multiple planning and listed building consent applications.
Results
- Successful redevelopment of the site, identified as one of the ‘Edinburgh 12’ – the projects with the greatest potential to deliver economic growth for the city.
- Restoration and new use for three separate unused listed building at the heart of the World Heritage Site, including successful design to link the three buildings which occupy notably different topographic levels within the local cityscape.
- Bold, contemporary and sympathetic design for new build elements and facade with sandstone, pitched roofs and gables used in combination with contemporary materials to successfully blend with the Old Town
roofscape character. - The Virgin Hotel opened in 2022 and has been the recipient of numerous architectural design awards, including the Scottish Property Awards Architectural Excellence Award.