St. Kentigern’s Church

The St Kentigern’s project is a significant development in the heart of Edinburgh, showcasing the best practices in repurposing derelict buildings and new construction. This site is particularly noteworthy due to its tight, city-centre location where tenants would otherwise struggle to find affordable, energy-efficient, and high-quality homes.
In collaboration with LAR Housing Trust, we retrofitted the derelict St Kentigern’s Church building into four unique townhouses and constructed ten new-build flats within the grounds adjacent.
The historic church building is situated behind a tenement building and overlooks the Union Canal in Viewforth. This sandstone church had been visibly deteriorating prior to LAR’s acquisition. The building, with its colourful history as a former nursery and car garage, had fallen into disrepair and lost its purpose. LAR’s redevelopment program enabled us to preserve the building for the future by creating affordable townhouses ensuring the building survives and serves a useful purpose. The homes’ interiors are formed over three storeys, retain the existing arched window forms, stonework detailing and fascinating ceiling forms.
The new flats’ clean and contemporary form are clad in sandstone to reflect the surrounding tenements and the church itself, and are bright and spacious inside with full height windows.
All new homes benefit from innovative ground-source heating solutions.
This fascinating development provides much-needed affordable housing for mid-market rent in the heart of Edinburgh.