GRACEMOUNT HOUSING

Location: Gracemount, Edinburgh

Client: The City of Edinburgh Council

Programme: Completed 2012

This project is part of CEC’s 21st Century Homes initiative which aims to provide 1300 new affordable houses across the city. A masterplan was provided for the regeneration of the site, demolition of three multi-storey tower blocks and provision of new housing for sale and rent. This affordable project provides 99 new one, two and three-bedroom houses within a mix of three and four-storey flats, three-storey colony-type and two-storey terraced houses.

Proposals include the detailed design of the streets and infrastructure serving both the 99 new affordable houses as well as 116 houses for sale. Predominantly based around a central east-west street providing visual links to the listed Gracemount House, the design employs Home Zone principles to create a high quality shared surface streetscape. Hard and soft landscaping features control vehicle speeds creating a safe and welcoming environment.

All houses are designed to meet the requirements of the Edinburgh Standards for Housing. Bike and refuse stores are placed internally to de-clutter the public realm. The majority of houses and flats have either private gardens or balconies. Proposals also include a new play park, and a mix of new and retained mature trees form a prominent avenue to the south of the site. The scheme complies with the Edinburgh Standards for Sustainable Building with an overall 19.5% passive reduction in CO2 emissions. It also achieves a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

The development was awarded a commendation in the Large Scale Housing Development category at the 2014 Saltire Housing Design Awards.