Projects

Approval for a landmark mixed-use development in the New Town Conservation Area of Edinburgh

Our role

• Provision of planning and heritage advice to gain a thorough understanding of the site and its context, with particular cognisance of the site’s location within the New Town Conservation Area, and the setting of adjacent listed buildings and the World Heritage Site.
• Co-ordination of several months of collaborative meetings between Ediston, 10 Design, OPEN and officers of City of Edinburgh Council and Historic Environment Scotland at pre-application stage to resolve design and heritage matters through a process of iterative design development.
• Facilitated extensive pre-application discussions with the local community and stakeholders groups, including four separate public exhibitions (two held virtually to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions).
• Submission and project management of a suite of applications for planning permission and conservation area consent.

Results

• The proposals were subject to to one of the largest public consultations ever delivered for an Edinburgh city centre development.
• Applications for planning permission and conservation area consent were submitted in August 2020, and the proposals were approved (subject to conditions) by the City of Edinburgh Council following a hearing at the Development Management Sub-Committee on 17 February 2021.
• The project will deliver a high quality, well-designed, sustainable development which fulfils placemaking principles through urban design, landscaping and the creation of new public realm.
• The development will bring significant economic benefit to the local area, and the wider Edinburgh economy. The operational phase of the development would create more than 700 full-time jobs whilst generating an annual GVA economic uplift of £35.5 million to the local and regional economy.
• The New Town Quarter development could be completed as early as 2024.