Projects / Canongate Student Residence, Edinburgh

Client

Summix Ltd

Project description

Concept proposals for 179 Canongate: a 91-bed student residential scheme in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, developed by 3DReid for Summix.

Situated adjacent to the A-listed Canongate Kirk, its location in the UNESCO World Heritage Site has necessitated a carefully considered response to the surrounding townscape.

The footprint of the building takes cognisance of the existing structures and spaces, enhancing permeability across the site by way of a continuation of the Old Town’s characteristic close and court arrangement. Pronounced level changes across the site have been reconciled to ensure ease of access throughout, with the articulation of its massing being such to stitch the development into the predominant urban grain of the wider conservation area.

A significant portion of the historic built fabric has been maintained, the proposed development inserted into this in a manner that makes entirely legible new and old. This continuing the condition of layered construction that is currently evident, with Victorian-era brick buildings situated on stone rubble structures associated with the earlier Magdelene Asylum and bowling green that once occupied the site.

A mix of cluster and studio apartments is proposed. Supporting facilities such as reception and office areas, common room, laundry and parcel room are accommodated at ground floor level, with communal bin store, secure cycle storage and plant/electrical switch rooms proposed to be provided on the lower-ground floor, to allow ease of access for servicing, directly from the lane.

A community space is also included, with direct access to Old Tolbooth Wynd, providing activity and presence to the street, enlivening a currently dark, somewhat intimidating route.

3D Visuals and drawings

© 3DReid 2019