One of Edinburgh’s most controversial buildings — which has stood empty for almost 10 years — is to be gutted in a multi-million pound makeover.
St Andrew Square is a prime location that will attract quality occupiers, the developers believe
Plans to remodel the former Scottish Provident building on St Andrew Square have been criticised by both heritage groups and leading architects, but were passed by the city’s planning committee on a majority vote. Two other buildings on either side of the block will be demolished as part of the same project.
Developers Stockland can now press ahead with its plan to transform the south side of the square into prime office space, ground floor shops and seven exclusive upper floor apartments. The building, described as Edinburgh’s most contextual and humane example of twentieth century architecture, will have its interior stripped and facade removed before the main building work starts later this year.
Long regarded as a “modernist landmark”, the one-time insurance headquarters was designed by William G Leslie, of Rowand Anderson, Kinimonth & Paul and completed in 1969. It was used by the financial services firm until 2004 and has remained empty ever since.
Cited as a fine example of the “Brutalist style” by architectural historians, hundreds of letters of objection were received by the city authority together with formal protests from Historic Scotland and the Cockburn Association civic trust.
Last year the The Cockburn Association referred the council’s planning officials to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman over their handling of the planning application.
It claimed the local authority had become too “pro-development” and that despite the substantial nature of the works, officials had not considered it as a “demolition” in order to avoid the proper checks being carried out.
Edinburgh City Council has always maintained that in its view the application never proposed to demolish the building.
“The floor space behind the facade will be reconfigured,” explained a spokesman. “The facade will be taken down and then rebuilt to allow the work to go ahead. We are satisfied that no other consents are required in this case.”
Historic Scotland also voiced concerns over the amount of rebuilding. “The extent of down-taking and rebuilding proposed, in our view, would be substantial demolition, rather than alteration of the building,” the body’s senior heritage management officer, Ian Thomson, wrote in his objection.
“The resulting works would essentially be a new building, with the integrity of the building being much diminished, appearing almost as screen decoration for the new-build element behind. This is problematic in conservation terms.”
Malcolm Fraser is a leading architect who chairs the Scottish Government’s town centre review. In his objection he described the proposed redevelopment style as “scrapbook-facadism” which is “universally derided, trashing and traducing our heritage for no benefit”.
Stockland has owned the three St Andrew Square properties for five years, but had been unable to attract occupiers. It had previously increased floor heights and upgraded the facilities in the Scottish Provident building without success.
“These new changes will allow us to attract top quality occupiers to a vibrant and thriving part of the city,” said Stockland director, Ken Lindsay.
“We believe this is a prime site, especially given the proximity to Waverley Station and the new tram stop connecting the city centre to the airport,” he said. The development is expected to be open by mid-2016.
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