Connecting City and Canal: New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

25th Sep 2026
| News
| Susan Carroll Cooper

A long-vacant industrial footprint in Edinburgh’s city centre has been transformed into a thriving canal-side community. The completion of the final residential phase at New Fountainbridge marks the culmination of Vastint’s multi-phase regeneration project, delivering 253 new homes and helping reconnect the city with the Union Canal. Alongside the new homes, the wider development has introduced a 262-bedroom Moxy hotel, 5,500m² of Grade A office space, commercial and retail units, and a dynamic public realm, creating a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood.

“Seeing the New Fountainbridge masterplan come to life is hugely rewarding after nearly a decade of work. Delivering such a complex city centre regeneration project demonstrates the true value of long-term collaboration between Vastint, the City of Edinburgh Council, the wider consultant team, and local groups. Together, we’ve created a strong sense of place that meaningfully reconnects Fountainbridge with the Union Canal.”

Darren Park

Associate Director, 3DReid

3DReid’s masterplan reinterprets the rhythm of Edinburgh’s classic tenement blocks. Along the water’s edge, two perimeter structures provide strong, well-defined edges framing streets, with open courtyards and accessible routes through the development. A mix of townhouses and apartment blocks brings textural variation to the structure with careful consideration of public routes and shared spaces that connect seamlessly with the wider community. New pedestrian and cycle connections extend the existing city network, responding to the Council’s Fountainbridge Development Brief and creating better links between the city and the canal.

3dreid-fountainbridge-news-courtyard-view

New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Union Canal Courtyard accessible path

New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Union Canal Courtyard Landscaping

New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Union Canal Courtyard

Open Courtyards and accessible routes throughout the development

With New Fountainbridge now complete, the regenerated development marks a pivotal chapter for this part of Edinburgh. Bringing together homes, workplaces, retail and leisure uses, it has transformed a long-vacant site into a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood.

New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Union Canal Apartment and Townhouses - Canal cycle and pedestrian path

Public routes connect seamlessly with the wider community.

The completed development marks a pivotal shift for Fountainbridge—turning an isolated brownfield site into a place where people live, work, and gather. We look forward to sharing design stories and technical insights on the project in the coming weeks.

New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Union Canal Townhouses

Photography © Liam Carlton

Project Team & Collaborators

Architect & Lead Designer / 3DReid
Delivery Architect / Cumming and Co
Structural Engineer / Fairhurst
Services Engineer / RSP
Fire Engineer / JGA
Acoustics / Ramboll Environ
Planning / Pritchett Planning Consultancy
Project Manager & CDM / Faithful & Gould
Landscape Architect / RaeburnFarquharBowen (Formerly Ian White Associates)
Transport / ECS Transport Planning
Management Agent / Redpath Bruce

3DReid New Fountainbridge Team

Connecting City and Canal: New Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

Open Courtyards and accessible routes throughout the development

Public routes connect seamlessly with the wider community.

Photography © Liam Carlton

Project Team & Collaborators

3DReid New Fountainbridge Team

Darren Park

Euan McLaren

Neil de Prez

Claire Hawkins

Gary Browne