the scotsman SPECIAL REPORT WEST Wednesday 5 September 2007

NEW HORIZONS: HOW DEVELOPMENTS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CAPITAL ARE SET TO TRANSFORM SCOTTISH BUSINESS LIFE 2 SPECIAL REPORT Wednesday, 5 September 2007 THE SCOTSMAN

From left, the Edinburgh Park site in various stages of its development, from green field in 1989, 1996 and as it looks today

Proposed tram route M90 & and tram stop 21 BIG GUNS How the field of Forth Road TS SALUTE HUB’S Bridge A920 LO CAT I O N 1. Aegon roundabout Edinburgh 2. Applecross Edinburgh - AberdeenTo Edinburgh mainline railway dreams turned International city centre 3. AstraZeneca Airport Gyle 4. BT 7 LOCHSIDE shopping 5. Convergys VIEW A8 TS centre 6. Diageo EMEA, ORACLE 7. Fujitsu ROYAL BANK OF CONVERGYS into a reality WORLD HEADQUARTERS JP WSP GROUP 8. HBoS MILLER MORGAN BRITISH 9. HSBC Call Centre (Lochside GROUP BROADWAYSouth Gyle Airport, TELECOM Place) FUJITSU 10. HSBC Global Fund M9 & Stirling SCOTTISH ANTHONY HARRINGTON charts Edinburgh Park’s MENZIES EQUITABLE/ Management (Lochside Way) DISTRIBUTION AEGON 11. Interactive University transformation into a world-class office space AEGON 12. J P Morgan BAE 13. John Menzies Forth Forth FIRTH OF FORTH Road Bridge SYSTEMS HSBC ROYAL BANK 14. Computershare Bridge OF SCOTLAND 15. Miller Group HE idea for Edinburgh Park goes the whole site. Inspired by Edinburgh’s M9 XANSA REGUS A90 EdinburghEdinburgh 16. Oracle back to the late-1980s, when New Town, with its grid-like streets, Airport citycity ccentreentre HSBC 17. Payment Shield Miller Developments and City Meier produced a masterplan that, A8 HBoS TS EdinburghEdinburgh DIAGEO HBoS 18. Regus of Edinburgh Council set out to while being flexible, laid down a grid M8 ParkPark Ttransform a stretch of farm meadow framework which even landscaping de- 19. Start International A720 into a world-class business centre. tails, such as the run of hedges and the Railway lines A720 NOVOTEL Edinburgh 20. WSP Edinburgh city bypass (opening Park 21. Xansa The plans for the adjacent Gyle Shop- arrangement of street lighting, follow. Edinburgh Easter 2008) ping Centre were already on the table Ian White, of White Associates, was city bypass and that area of west Edinburgh had appointed as the landscape architect for TS e railway seen substantial interest from business the park and, together with NEL and Edinburgh - Glasgow mainlin and industry. So taking into account the Edinburgh Park Management Limited Hermiston Hermiston Gait other take-up deals. In the last month, long-term needs of Edinburgh as a city (EPML), the management company for Gait retail park the Edinburgh Park’s vacancy rates have and the development potential of the the park, he has been responsible for the Glasgow M8 reduced dramatically and this trend site, it made sense to contemplate a extremely high standard of landscaping looks set to continue. business park on a grand scale, encom- across the area. However, as Pamela Grant, develop- passing, potentially at least, more than The first planting on the site began in ment director at NEL explains, the next 3 million square feet of office space. 1989 and, over the last two decades, the town business parks and Edinburgh snapped up by prospective corporate phase of the park is now being designed. The two partners decided to go for a trees have grown and the plants have Park attracted huge interest. The first tenants off plan, before the foundations The focus, initially, will be on multi- mixed strategy of land sales and specu- matured. Together with the Lochans development was via a land sale to Scot- were laid. Companies such as ICL, now tenanted, flexible floor space offices of a lative offices available for lease. New (the water features that run through the tish Equitable, which designed its own Fujitsu, and HSBC Bank came into the high quality around Edinburgh Park Edinburgh Ltd (NEL) was set up as the park) they provide the site’s increasingly flagship building before being pur- park, along with JP Morgan, BAE, Oracle Station, an area of the site that is still development company to manage the rich and diverse variety of wildlife with chased by Aegon. A similar deal was and Diageo. largely undeveloped. build-out of the park and, in 1990, the a great habitat. At the same time, the de- struck with BT, which built its own of- Then, just as NEL completed the pres- “We have built out more than 1.3 green area of field enclosed by the Gogar tigious building at 7 Lochside View, the million square feet already and we have Road interchange began to be trans- “The tram will be welcome and we hope to progress dotcom market collapsed. Despite the outline planning permission for a fur- formed. Edinburgh Park’s website, building winning a major design award, ther 2.7 million square feet,” says Grant. www.ep-online.co.uk, has a marvellous the idea of a mainline train stop” Pamela Grant, NEL it was four years before NEL was able “We feel very optimistic about the sequence of aerial photographs of the to sign the first contract for a single- future for the park. park’s build out to date, starting with sign gives the occupants a fine “public fices adjacent to Scottish Equitable. floor let. That has just recently gone to “The arrival of the tram system in 2011 the green-field site up to the present. realm” space, together with some of the Other developments followed in quick Applecross, the residential housing will be extremely welcome and we are From the outset, NEL was determined finest business park landscaping to be succession. Gordon Paterson, Edin- develop e r. hopeful that we will be able to promote that the park would be a credit to Edin- found anywhere. burgh Park manager for EPML, points However, interest in the remaining the idea of a mainline Glasgow to Edin- burgh. The US architect Richard Meier In retrospect, the 1990s turned out to out that, in the early days, buildings and space is strong and throughout the de- burgh train stop at Edinburgh Park with was asked to prepare the masterplan for be something of a golden era for out-of- speculative developments were velopment there have been numerous the Scottish Executive.” THE SCOTSMAN Wednesday, 5 September 2007 WEST EDINBURGH 3

Allan Murray Architects’ a w a r d -w i n n i n g Brave vision building at 7 Lochside View was designed and landscaped to feel means so many like a public realm people benefit from park life

ANTHONY HARRINGTON NEL took on Edinburgh Park they did a very brave thing,” he says. “The central feature of the WITH three buildings so far in park, the three lochans, together Edinburgh Park to its credit, with the planting that charac- including the iconic, award- terises the landscape of the park, winning 7 Lochside View, Allan was one of the first things they Murray Architects has a very did, which set the scale and the keen interest in seeing the park tone for the development.” achieve its full potential. So far, Fairweather points out that in about 1.3 million square feet of so many business parks, land- the park has been built out and scaping is the last thing done. All there is potentially 2.7 million too often it is no more than planner for the site,” he says. visible north side of the site, was velopment would have made get is aesthetic, and you can erect square feet to go. turfing over builders’ rubble to “The landscape and the build- to come up with a design that that kind of approach uneco- more buildings on the site,” says What marks Edinburgh Park create a more pleasing aspect for ings have come together, even made all the cars ‘vanish’ into an nomic . Fairweather. “We got four or five out and distinguishes it from vir- the eye – though the soil beneath though the park has a long way underground car park. However, as Fairweather ex- buildings into the same space tually any other business park in is too thin to support anything. to go, to create a great feeling of This gave a tremendous plains, once the density of the the BT site and car parking occu- the country, says Alexander Fair- “Ian White, of White Associ- unity. What Allan Murray did, “public realm” space. In the early buildings achieved a certain crit- pies, and we were able to create a weather, a director at Allan Mur- ates, the landscape architect for when the practice came to de- stages of the build out at the ical mass, it became possible to clean surface and put the build- ray Architects, is the scale and the park, is almost as important sign 7 Lochside View, which was park, with the Aegon and BT put the car parking underneath. ings and the landscape into ambition of the project. “When as Richard Meier, the master the first building at the highly buildings, the economics of de- “There is a cost, but the gain you much closer harmony.” NEL staying ahead of the game

The herms of 12 Scottish poets in Edinburgh Park have proved inspirational Picture: Craig Stephen

GARTH WOOD burgh Park with 12 herms of Norman MacCaig, Hugh MacDi- 20th century Scottish poets. armid, Sorley MacLean, Naomi Building on the New Town grid Mitchison, Edwin Morgan and THE decision by New Edinburgh design by the park’s master ar- Iain Crichton Smith. Ltd, (NEL), the development chitect Richard Meier and Part- As Wall notes, others may company behind Edinburgh ners, NEL decided that the have chosen alternative poets, Park, to commission bronze rhythm set up by the lochans but NEL hopes that developers of busts–orherms –ofadozenof and the regular planting of lime other business parks and spaces Scotland’s leading poets was trees at four-metre centres might be stirred by the example warmly welcomed by the set at Edinburgh Park to com- Trustees of the National Gal- “NEL hopes other mission sculptures of other leries of Scotland, and has been poets and artists. an inspiration to employees and developers might The herms are not the first visitors to the park. be stirred by sculptures in the park. Other As Ian Wall, a director of NEL the example” pieces include Epitaph for the explains, the company’s interest Elm, by Tim Stead and Questor in poetry in Edinburgh Park would be ideally complemented by Keith McCarter. An excellent began with a display of regularly by the addition of four herms book, Twelve Poets at Edinburgh changing poems in the develop- per lochan. There are three Park, was published by the ment’s bus shelters. lochans in all, hence the total of Trustees of the National Gallery Stimulated by the example of 12 herms. The poets chosen are in February 2005, to mark an ex- the architect Josef Plecznick in Douglas Dunn, W. S. Graham, hibition of the 12 bronze herms Ljubljana, NEL decided to enrich Hamish Henderson, Jackie Kay, of the poets held at the National the central area within Edin- Tom Leonard, Liz Lochhead, Gallery at the time. 4 SPECIAL REPORT Wednesday, 5 September 2007 THE SCOTSMAN THE SCOTSMAN Wednesday, 5 September 2007 WEST EDINBURGH 5 Frustration as park’s mainline Rush in a hurry is route of all upheaval stop proposals hit the buffers

Despite a huge predicted increase in passenger numbers, ANTHONY HARRINGTON proposals for new rail and road connections have stalled, THE joint venture company NEL writes ANTHONY HARRINGTON and its two partners, City of Edin- burgh Council and Miller Devel- opments, have good cause to feel HE main problem vision of improved road links is so important,” a little aggrieved. has at present, as it contemplates the says Johnston. When Edinburgh Park train possibility of passenger numbers in- The airport’s current 30-year master plan, station was built in 2003, with the creasing to as much as 23 million a year prepared in compliance with the 2003 Trans- City of Edinburgh Council and Tby 2030, is one of access, as its managing direc- port White Paper, sets out plans for two addi- NEL putting substantial sums tor, David Johnston, explains. tional access routes to the airport, the M8 access into the construction, they had a “There is no way of getting around the fact route and a second access road to the Gogar commitment from the Scottish that our key and only surface access route to get roundabout . Executive that the mainline Edin- passengers in and out of the airport is Eastfield However, as Johnston points out, the Gogar burgh to Glasgow train would Road,” he says. “That road was originally built link road, although it has been agreed in prin- stop at the station. Today, with a to accommodate two million passengers a ciple, would only provide a limited benefit. new government in power in year. We are now at almost nine million pas- “The Gogar link road would give the airport a Scotland, it is still unclear how sengers a year and the road is congested much second access road, which would be important such a promise is going to be of the time. if Eastfield Road were closed for any reason. fulfilled . “Within two years it will be totally grid- However, the Gogar roundabout is already As Pamela Grant, development locked at peak times and it does no-one any heavily congested at peak times, so a new road director at NEL, explains, both good, neither passengers, nor the environ- here does not in itself provide a complete an- parties were lobbying govern- ment, for cars to be stuck with their engines swer,” he says. ment intensively trying to get running going nowhere.” The big fear as things now stand is that some some action on this and, in NEL’s The bottom line for BAA is that numbers of incident on Eastfield Road will leave the air- view, a mainline stop was almost visitorsto thecityofEdinburgh aregrowing port completely cut off. “After the recent Glas- within reach when everything steadily. People are travelling here in vast num- gow Airport terrorist incident, when the po- got sidetracked by the election. bers, attracted to the city not only as a tourist lice closed the forecourt at Edinburgh Airport, With a new transport minister in centre, but also as a business centre and as a con- we had traffic tailing all the way back to the mo- place, NEL is back to square-one. The mainline Edinburgh to Glasgow train still does not stop at Edinburgh Park Picture: Craig Stephen ference centre. To develop to its full potential, it torway, which showed the limitations and “The whole purpose of fund- is unarguable that the city needs first-class weaknesses of Eastfield Road as the main air- ing the railway station was that fore, that large numbers of However, while the Glasgow to hotel will be the catalyst to bring transport links and, to have this, it needs a first- port access road,” he says. we were working to bring about a people choose to make their car Edinburgh main line train stop different types of commercial class airport. It is inconceivable that a first-class The problem that BAA has with its bid to get transport initiative for Edin- their first choice when it comes to wouldbe ahugeplusfor thesite, property operators on to the airport can exist without a decent infrastruc- an M8 access route approved in principle is that burgh Park and west Edinburgh, getting to and from work at the Grant says that its continued ab- park,” says Grant. ture connecting the airport to the city and to the current West of Edinburgh Framework that would give people a wide site. The main problem with mak- sence will not stop the next phase “At the moment, it caters for the rest of Scotland. Document (WEFD) explicitly says that an M8 range of choice as to how they ac- ing Edinburgh Park a main line of the build out of Edinburgh the large corporate space users , The Scottish National Party was never fond access road to the airport would not make a sig- cess the park,” says Grant. stop, Grant points out, is that such Park from going ahead. “We are in even though the quality of that of the Labour government’s flagship rail pro- nificant impact on traffic congestion on East- At present, the routes servicing astopwould inevitablypushthe detailed discussions with a hotel space is superb. The hotel and ject at Edinburgh Airport, calling it a “gold- field Road, but Johnston says that BAA has spot- Edinburgh Park station are the journey time between the two operator at the moment and if smaller, more flexible, multi- plated” solution, and the SNP came to power on ted what it believes to be a huge flaw in the Dunblane to Edinburgh and tenanted offices will create a a manifesto that pledged to stop the project. document’s argument, one he says is accepted Bathgate to Edinburgh lines. “We still have not achieved something that much more urban feel.” The Scottish government is said to be plan- even by its own authors. People wanting to travel to or “From there we anticipate hav- ning to make a statement about the rail link’s The argument is based on a complex traffic from Glasgow either have to was supposed to happen from day one” ing conference facilities, a health future some time in September. If the project modelling exercise carried out for the govern- change at Polmont or Linlithgow Pamela Grant, NEL club and more restaurants and does go ahead though it will, in all likelihood, ment, using the airport’s passenger growth as- station. Alternatively, if travelling bars opening up which will cre- beacut-downversion alongthelinesofthe sumptions. However, Johnston points out, the from Glasgow Queen Street com- cities outside the 50-minute zone. these go through, as we expect, ate many more facilities for occu- Heathrow express link. consultants who carried out the modelling ac- muters have to go past Edinburgh Train operators face steep penal- that will unlock developments piers of the park.” The airport is scheduled to be on the Edin- tually modelled two sets of assumptions, not Park, where they can change at ties for exceeding this “magic” around the train station begin- One future anticipated rail burgh tram line route by 2011, but it will only one. The one set took into account what would Haymarket for a mainline train to journey time and it will need ningfromaround themiddleof development is the Airdrie to connect the airport with Edinburgh city cen- happen if the Scottish government released Dunblane or Bathgate to come Scottish Executive action to set 2008,” she says. Bathgate service, which is sched- tre. Only around a quarter of the airport’s pas- hundreds of acres of greenbelt land for busi- back out again. This is a truly cir- aside these penalties. “Here we The arrival of a quality hotel, uled to begin stopping at Edin- sengers travel to it from there, and those who ness development. cuitous way of getting to Edin- are, four years after the station with all the facilities that such a burgh Park station from 2011. By do so are usually keen to arrive as quickly as This modelling exercise found that an M8 ac- burgh Park, and not one that was put in and we still have not development offers, will create that stage, Grant says, NEL would possible. They are unlikely to be especially cess road would relieve traffic congestion at many people would select if they achieved something that was much more of an urban feel to like to see the build-out of the tempted to catch a plane via the tram’s “scenic peak times by as much as 14 per cent, looking had an alternative. supposed to happen from day- that end of the park. whole of the area around the train route” to and from the capital, with its many a ahead to the projected state of affairs in 2021 It is no surprise to find, there- one,” says Grant. “From our point of view, the station completed. winding turn. (taking into account both airport growth and “The Scottish government’s own forecasts business park growth). showed that even with a tram and heavy rail The second modelling exercise looked at link, the vast majority of Edinburgh airport what would happen if no green belt land was passengers would continue to travel to and released for development, and it found that an from the terminal by road. This is why the pro- access route to the M8 would only make about Sharing responsibility of saving the planet one per cent difference. The problem, Johnston points out, is that the MANAGING the “carbon foot- GARTH WOOD park and these show that train, WEFDassumes that hundreds of acres of green print” of Edinburgh Park, with a bus and car-sharing useage has belt land will be released as part of the develop- potential 32,000 occupants, can gone up and overall car useage ment of the west of Edinburgh. But it goes on to be a tough chore. Individual done on the park is the imple- has gone down over the last three use the modelling exercise based on no release building owners have a role to mentation of car-sharing years. A Faber Mausell survey con- of green belt land. In other words, it uses the play, in terms of their use of heat schemes. A number of the em- ducted in the middle of 2006, at wrong modelling data for its assumptions. and power, but government has ployers at the park run their own the request of Edinburgh Park BAA is hopeful that it can point this out to an even bigger role. car-share schemes, and Edin- and other operators in the sur- the Scottish government with sufficient force This is because one of the burgh Park also publicises the in- rounding Gogarburn area, to get it to put the M8 access road link back on biggest variables, in terms of the ternet-based Carshare scheme. looked at the number of employ- the agenda. environmental footprint of the This is a programme that allows ees who used the train to com- “We are keen to ensure that the next park, is the use of private cars by people to search and contact po- mu te . iteration of the West of Edinburgh Framework employees. Clearly, if the park tential carshares using the web The survey found that 1,600 Document, which is expected early next year, swells to employ 32,000 people and e-mail. The scheme can be journeys in total were made each keeps the door open for an M8 link,” says John- and every one of them drives to accessed at www.ep-online.co.uk. day of the week, with up to 120 ston. “Then we can start to look at the next level work as a sole driver, then that At the time of writing, there were passengers an hour using the of planning on a possible link road. We can creates a substantial environ- 93 active members registered. train during the afternoon rush start working with local councils to look at mental issue all of its own. Members are asked to register hour. The survey extended be- things such as the alignment such a route Alternatively, if the impossible their details including informa- yond Edinburgh Park to include would take, the junctions that would be neces- happens, and all 32,000 elected tion about where they live, typi- employees of the nearby Scottish sary and so on.” to cycle to work or use public cal travel habits and preferences. and Newcastle site and the Royal Johnston points out that BAA is very sup- transport, that would have a very This profile can then be com- Bank of Scotland. It found that portive of both the train and tram initiatives, beneficial contribution. pared with other members to 85 per cent of employees but with so many passengers still expected to While everyone waits for the find a suitable match. responding said they would use come to the airport by road, whatever the outcometo whetherGlasgowto EPML (Edinburgh Park Man- Edinburgh Park station if a direct BAA’s plans for expansion have been public trasnport alternatives, good road links Edinburgh trains will stop there, agement Limited) undertakes a service from Glasgow was Park employees can find people affected by the change in government are essential to avoid gridlock. Edinburgh Airport has a large long-term expansion plan as it contemplates the possibility of passenger numbers increasing to 23 million a year by 2030 Picture: Kenny Smith something that can and is being number of user surveys at the introduced . with whom to car share online 6 SPECIAL REPORT Wednesday, 5 September 2007 THE SCOTSMAN Paving the way for smooth future

Whatever decision is reached on transport, Edinburgh Park must be prepared to welcome 32,000 employees, writes GARTH WOOD

DINBURGH Park, along with the future development of Edin- burgh Airport and other pro- jects in the area around Gogar- burn,E are a key part of the next phase of the development of the west of Edinburgh. When it is fully built out, Edinburgh Park alone could be home to more than 32,000 employees and 20 or more businesses, many of them house- hold names. As things now stand, the Transport Initiative Edinburgh (TIE) team has been given the green light (once again) to proceed with the trams. But the other “initiative” that had been part of TIE’s remit, to build a new rail spur connect- ing the city of Edinburgh with the Airport, has been taken off the agenda while it is subjected to an internal review. The government is expected to make an announcement about it in S eptember. Susan Clark, deputy director for TIE, points out that work on defining routes is advanced and the building of the main spine of the tram network will begin in 2008. “There is no doubt the tram is a key plank of the WEFP. It is After reflection, the government gave particularly vital in responding to the the go ahead for trams, with work on anticipated growth of the area,” she the main spine of the network due to s ays. start next year Picture: Neil Hanna The tram route being developed first will run from out to Edinburgh Airport and will have an immediate local up-and-coming artists to decorate impact, once it is operational, on traffic its new building. “The idea was to stimu- congestion in the area. Clark points out late employee interest and there are that although scheduling is still being some quite unusual and quirky pieces in finalised, the plan already envisages the collection,” says McPherson. some six to eight trams an hour running The building is constructed around a from the airport to Leith, moving a total quadrangle which allows a lot of natural of some 20,000 people an hour. light into the offices. It also has its own “This is not just about servicing the gym and fitness centre for staff, as well airport, although it will have a very pos- as a learning centre. “We do regular staff itive impact on that. What we are doing surveys and we consistently get good is providing a system that will allow feedback from staff about the offices people to move across the City of Edin- and the park,” says McPherson. burgh easily and quickly,” says Clark. From Aegon’s perspective, the main From Leith to Haymarket, the trams will building has achieved everything that run on tracks on the streets, either in the the company was looking for from the centre or at the side. From Haymarket site. “It is quite visible from the periph- out to Edinburgh Park, the tram will ery road that joins the park to the Gyle have its own dedicated track. Centre, which is good for us, and we are “In the west Edinburgh area there well positioned on the major trunk will be a total of six tram stops, allowing road. We are very satisfied with our passengers plenty of scope,” says Clark. choice,” says McPherson. The trams, as currently envisaged, will Pamela Grant, Development Director stop at Edinburgh Park central and at New Edinburgh Limited (NEL) says Edinburgh Park station (creating an that at this half way stage in the life of interchange with the national train the park, both partners to the joint ven- network), at the Gyle and Gogarburn to ture “feel very good about the park”. service the HQ, The path ahead for Edinburgh Park will require transport, residential and retail development Main picture: Craig Stephen “It is one of Miller Developments’ and at . This last stop will allow flagship projects and is something we people to leave their cars on the out- tram line running all the way out to Fife. The important thing about any busi- built. “We had acquired Scottish Equi- are very proud of,” she says. “Whenever skirts of Edinburgh and to travel in on Commuting from Fife to Edinburgh ness park is that the companies which table in 1994 and in 1996 we were look- Miller is looking to form new joint ven- public transport, Clark says. Park by tram would become an option. set up there find that the park and its lo- ing for new, expanded premises,” says ture partnerships across Europe, it al- TIE has been given parliamentary There have been some suggestions cation fit well with their strategy for Mc P he r s on . ways brings prospective partners to powers to put in a link from Haymarket that the tram route would be too slow, their organisation and that the staff in- “We had an expanded head count, fol- Edinburgh Park.” to Granton and to connect that line up and too much of a “scenic route” to satisfy volved are happy. lowing the acquisition and we were Grant points out that developing the to Leith. It also has powers to connect looking for an appropriate out-of-town site to its full potential will still require a the airport to Newbridge. “There is no doubt the tram is a key plank of the Greenfield site. One of the great things massive co-ordinated effort. “When you “Some work was done on a third line about the site was that we were able to are bringing probably 30,000 or more link that would run from the centre of WEFP. It is particularly vital in responding to the get a very significant amount of car people to the site to work each day, you Edinburgh past the University and the anticipated growth of the area” Susan Clark, TIE parking space for staff.” The second need to think about the impact on Royal Infirmary. However, there are no Aegon building was originally purpose- schools, on residential demand in the funds for this line yet. It is at this stage either commuters or passengers head- Aegon was among the early arrivals at built for the software house Adobe and area, on services, retail capabilities, just one possible further development,” ing for the airport. However, Clark points Edinburgh Park. As Aegon head of cor- is used by Aegon Asset Management. medical services and the like,” she says. explains Clark. Still further in the out that when people in Dublin are asked porate media Leslie McPherson ex- At the same time, Aegon decided to “Edinburgh Park’s impact on the future, after the new Forth Road Bridge what they like best about the city’s trams, plains, the company has two buildings invest back in the community as part of economy of Scotland in general, and the has been built, if it is a multi-modal their answer is: it gives them an extra half on the park. The main one houses some its move to its new premises. It adopted west of Edinburgh in particular, is set to bridge as planned, then there could be a hour in bed in the morning. 2,500 Aegon staff and was purpose- a policy of investing substantially in grow dramatically.” THE SCOTSMAN Wednesday, 5 September 2007 WEST EDINBURGH 7 Scotland’s newest Novotel checking in development at heart of the business community

GARTH WOOD

THE next phase of the development of Edinburgh Park, around the train sta- tion, has begun well. The new Novotel 170-bed hotel now being built immedi- ately across the tracks from the station is expected to be ready for business in March 2008. As Jonathan Sheard, director of op- erations at Novotel explains, the new hotel will be joined to the station by a link bridge for pedestrians, providing guests with a direct walk-through route to the train network. The heart of Edinburgh is just six minutes away. Commenting on the choice of Edin- burgh Park as the location for Novotel’s latest hotel in Scotland, Sheard said: “Our philosophy is to place hotels in city centres, main transport junctions such as airports, and next to key busi- ness areas. Edinburgh Park is Scot- land’s premier business park and there is a strong preponderance of Scotland’s financial services companies located Visitors to the Novotel at Edinburgh Park will be assured a comfortable stay there. Many of these companies are long-standing customers of Novotel says that during the construction they very energy efficient. Taken together hotels and the Edinburgh Park loca- sank nine bore holes to penetrate deep with various other design features, this tion gives us a chance to work yet more into the earth. These bore holes pro- will ensure that we adhere to the closely with them.” vide geothermal heating for the hotel, highest environmental standards,” Novotel prides itself on having a using the heat of the earth itself to says Sheard. standardised, highly modern design power the process. The hotel will greatly enrich the which seeks to offer the same high Because geothermal pumps are re- range of facilities available to everyone quality experience to clients wherever versible, the same system can be used at Edinburgh Park. The bar and restau- they are in the world. However, as the to cool the hotel in the summer. “Dur- rant are available to all and the fact that latest hotel in the Novotel portfolio, ing summer we will be returning heat the hotel will have conference, meet- the new building is being designed to to the earth via the geothermal system. ing and banqueting facilities for up to be as environmentally friendly and as This system will ensure that gas is only 150 delegates will prove attractive to energy efficient as possible. Sheard required for cooking, making the hotel companies in the park.