St Margaret's House
DRAFT 26.02.09
MICHAELLAI RDARCHITECTS " ...... , .. .I...... / ...... ~ ...... ,... . ,......
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The Site
For the purposes of this report the 'site' has been deliniated as being within the confines of London Road, Smokey Brae (Restalrig Road South) and the East Coast Mainline, encompassing all the buildings in the urban , .I block. '.; .,,., , ,.., I . .I ,/,,. , ,I /, , ...... I, I. I. The site is occupied by St Margaret's House and Meadowbank House, which together with Some Victorian buildings at Jock's Lodge complete theurban biock.StMargaret'a and Meadowbank Houseare both brickoffice buildingsdating from the late 1570s and early 1580s respectively.
Background
This report has been prepared as part of a co- operative process following a series of meetings involving The Caledonian Trust, Michael Laird Architects and The City Development Department Planning and Strategy and Michael Laird Architects.
The purpose of the report is to analyse and evaluate the existing site context and explore a suitable design strategy or framework to facilitate the next stage of the design process, a development brief
The document has been prepared with reference to the 'The Edinburgh Standards for Urban Desiqn'and PAN 68 - \,
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1: I:. Urban Analysis .. ,, ...... I...... , I, ..,...... ' Site Characteristics ...... I.,. ,. I ...... Site Location .....
The site covers approximately 5.5 acres and is situated to the east of the city centre just beyond Holvrood Park in Edinburgh. It is bordered to the south by London Road (the Al) r and to the north by the East Coast Main Line railway, running from Edinburgh to London. The area is primarily residential in nature . . I( ...... with complimentary retail and the adiacent ...... Meadowbank Sports Centre...... St Margaret3 House most recently housed the... Scottish Office Pensions Agency and currently lies empty; Meadowbank House is adjacent and .. currently houses the Government department Registers of Scotland. The buildings at Jock's Lodge house a number of different activities, providing low-grade services to the , local area: two public houses, a bookmakers, .... a convenience store and a number of small ... industrial workshops. ..
This portion of the site is level throughout but ...... _ .. the topography of the site edge is extreme, dropping sharply away from London Road and causing both buiidinqs to be accessed by stairs ' ' and footbridges to the south, with vehicular access restricted to the north-east of the site. The Victorian buildings to Jock's Lodge sit at grade with London Road,some 8 metres abovr the ground level of the other two blocks.
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:Mention of a meadow first appears on the 1817 Kirkwood map. The land to the immediate west of the site is seen on the 1877 Ordnance Survey .County Series as open fields but surrounded 'by encroaching development. with the St.,,, Margaret Works and Locomotive Depot to the east of the land. By the end of the century Leith 'Athletic had built a football qround on the land, 'beginning a iongstanding and varied history of . . sporting activity at Meadowbank.
:Motorcycle speedway ran at Old Meadowbank .:from 1948 until 1954, when the post-war entertainment tax started to make the sport unprofitable for the iocai team, the Edinburgh :Monarchs. This entertainment tax was .:scrapped within a few years and the sport was reintroduced toEdinburgh inl960,TheMonarchs were forced to leave Old Meadowbank in 1967 ...... to allow the stadium to be re-developed for the .:1970 Commonwealth Games. The stadium has been used extensiveiyfor professional sporting , ,,,, .. activities, but speedway fans were advi that the area could not host professional sports 1 due to Government funding rules.
Meadowbank Stadium and its associated 'community facilities are used extensively by the local community and the buildings were used in two Commonwealth games. The City of Edinburgh Council had been considering demolishing Meadowbank Stadiumand replacing : :: it with a smaller Community faciliity in the east, .... side of the city but the move was opposed by those who support the retention of the and local community facilities......
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Piershill and Piershill Cavalry Barracks ' 1'.,
Piershill lies immediately to the east of Jock's , ,, Lodge and a mile west of Portobello. Piershill Junction connected the Granton branch of the railway in north Edinburgh to the East Coast main-line. ....
Piershill Cavalry Barracks. built in 1793 an demolished in 1934. lay to the west of the district at the junction of Portobello Road and Restalig Road South. Much stone from the barracks was reused in the construction of the '. housing scheme of Piershill Square now located on the same site. These ten contiguous blocks, . containing 342 dwellings, were constructed : 1937-8 and are a reinterpretation of the ' traditional tenement. They are Category C(S) listed and were desiqned by Ebenezer MacRae, ... the City Architect known for regeneration . . \\ Piershill Barracks c 1860 and reinterpretation of Scots Vernacular ...... architecture...... Jock'sLodge ::... :: ...... , ...... Jock's Lodqe was a village in South Leith parish on the road from Edinburgh to Portobello. I. adjacent to the south side of the site. It is . bordered by Meadowbank to the west, and Piershill to the east. The area is dominated by the civil service buildings and a crossroads, which has itself now become commonly as 'Jock's Lodqe'...... The original Jock's Lodqe Toll House wa circa. 1790 and was located on the junction of Portobello and Willowbrae Roads. It levied tolls ...... on traffic on the section of Post Road between 1 .-.. . , .,1. .. Edinburgh and Musselburqh. Jock's Lodge is '::: said to have derived its name from an eccentric .' i'': ...... R.F.A., PlER6H;LL BARRICKS medicant who built himself a hut on the site. , .I ...... I. mll--.T.- mll--.T.- ......
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...... Restalrig
Restalriq is a villaqe in the northern vicinity of Jock's Lodge and north-eastern vicinity of the site. in pre-Reformation days, Restalriq was the capital of the parish in which it stands. and the site of the parish church. The Earls of Moray claim as their mausoleum an octagonal chapter- house to the south of the church, whose groined roof springs from a single central piliar, and which is said to have been built about 1435 by Sir Robert Logan.
...' 'Restalrig House. to the north of the village...... :was designed as a plain substantial mansion in .... a well-wooded park of 15 acres. It was built in 1815-17. and enlarged a few years afterwards...... :: .The ancient mansion on the barony was a ...... :castellated structure,opposite the west end of .. the church, and is now represented by the lower ... wails of a plain modern house in the village...... A&Restalrig Village (Restairig Road South) prior to restoration. 1935 ...... Adjacentto thesitewasa famousspring,called ...... St Margaret's Well. This and some fine old ...... Gothic stone-work over this was removed in 1860 to a runnel at the north foot of Salisbury ... Crags and rebuilt stone-by-stone to allow the ...... St. Margaret's Workshops to be extended for ,...... the North British Railway Company. These ... workshops have subsequently been replaced by ..... St. Margaret's House. but the site of the well is marked by a monument in the form of a boulder within the site of Meadowbank Sports Centre. ..,
.... Restalrig Church, 1890 St Trir ..
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St. Margaret's Locomotive Works
St Margaret's Locomotive Works straddled the railway iine, filling the current site and the land to the immediate northwest
This works was constructed from about 1846 as the central workshops of the North British Railway, where their locomotives and roiling stock were repaired and built. The complex ai50 housed the locomotive running sheds. it remained their main workshops until after 1865.
The entrance to the works was on a long narrow site to the north of the North British Railway's main iine from Edinburgh to Berwick. Until the mid-1960s it was used as a depot for the smaller locomotives used in and around Edinburgh and for light repairs to them.
The North British Railway, after a series of amalgamations in the mid-1860s. moved its main works to the former Edinburgh & Giasqow Railway works at Cowiairs. Giasgow. St Margaret's remained a running shed. and a large extension was built to the south, on the site of St. Margaret's House and Meadowbank House. Both were demolished in the late 1960s.
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Local Characteristics
Surrounding Area
An analysis of the surrounding areas reveals a series of phases of urban development over several hundred years, developing east toward L Recreation Portobello along the London Road The Uses Diagram demonstrates that the area is largely Education residential in nature and amenities for the area are made up of a mix of retail and commercial Commercial outlets which follow the arterial routes through I it Meadowbank Sports Centre takes up a Public Parks considerable area to the immediate west of the site The diagram also illustrates the close proximity of Holyrood Park Residential
Surrounding Buildings
-ondon Roaoand Ihearea lo thesoutnof tnes te .s compr seo pr marily of 4-5 storey Victorian tenements. To rne nortn of St Marqarers nouse the housing stock is more contemporary and of Building Heights lower density comprising largely of bungalows and semi-detached 2 storey houses. '-* To the east of the block can be seen the distinctive plan form of the Piershill squares, a rn 3-4storevs Category C(S) listed juscheme consisting of 3-4 storey tenements. Opposite this development is New Restalrig Parish Church which is B listed
The building height plan shows the domination of the office buildings currently on the site and the fragmented relationship they have with L London Road, heightened by the level change The area immediately surrounding the site has changed little in recent years, the most recent :major developments being St Margaret's House a
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Topography ...... , .,...... _. ..., It The sharp drop from London Road is most
" : '1 : -extreme at the eastern end of the site (8-10 rn) . . and becomes more gentle to the west (5-6m). In places there Is exposed rock and a retaining wall runs most of the length of the London Road
' : boundary. The site is otherwise quite level. The 1 :steep drop means that the upon footbridges for access...... L ...... The diagram illustrates the ....._/.. ., ~l--, zones the first is mostly level throughout at
+25m I the second on London Road at +33m. currently housing a number of Victorian buildings and the third. the retalning edge running from +31m to +33m. west to east along LondonRoad
Sections A-A, B B and C C. illustrate the relationship between the site. the surrounding buildings. the railway line to the north and London Road
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site has also been studied. illustrating the edge
Road South- the soie vehicular entrance to the main site) to the west (London Road).
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.,, , Visual Analysis
Views Towards the Site
Following is an outline photographic study of the key views towards the site. Despite the site being in a dip and the mass of the buildings appearing obtrusive at close range, they: R manaqe not to disrupt the skyline views from the surrounding area to any great detrimental effect......
View 1 - View from Marionville Park ::': ' ':
Predominantly residential low rise, Marionviiie Park sits on top of a rise above Marionviiie: proper, with extensive views over Arthur's Seat at high level. The buiidinqs at St Margaret's are visible but grace the skyline rather than fracturing it.
View 2 -View from Marionville Drive
Also predominantly low rise residential, dipping
, ..'-.I ~ _. down toward the junction with Restairig Road ,. South. Although the massinq of both buildings ...... is significant from this view, creating a wail but ~._...... again actually forming the skyline rather than ...... :...... puncturing it...... /...... 'View 3 - View from Lilyhill Terrace ... I.... Liiyhiil Terrace, adjacent to Holyrood Park, is ,.,. . elevated above the buildings at St. Margaret's so has views over their roofscape. This images was taken at roof ievei of the buildings to show theminimaieffect the buildings have, principally due to being set in a dip adjacent to a railway line and surrounded by inclines. .... ,......
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...... View 4 - View from Lochend Crescent1 '.. :':: Restalrig Road South/ Marionville Road
This stretch of public green, caught between Lochend Crescent, Restairiq Road South and Marionvilie Road, Is in a smaii area clear of development facing the crags. The series of buildings at St Margarets is beneath the skyline, with Wiiiowbrae rising up behind the roofiine.
View 5 -View from Marionville House ...... d .. 232 Marionviile Road is a Category A listed Georgian mansion house on the highest point overlooking Marionviiie. The low rise residential of Marionvilie Drive fails away to the south and / the St Margarets buildings are visibly sitting to the fore but are not breaking the skyline.
View 6 - View from Calton Hill
Looking east from Caiton Hili over Hoiyrood Park it is apparent how the city nestles around the base of the rock. St Marqarets House is apparent in its massing. View 5 - From rionville HI
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'' '""From the site loo m tne Piershill over MeadOwDanK nouse ana site entrance
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...... _...... Skyline View Analysis , : ...... i::: .... , , ...... The skyline view analysis below takes in the three major views from the site: East looking back towards the city centre, North looking towards Leith and the Firth of Forth and West to Portobello. .... View A - View to the west
A panorama looking west down London Roa F' ...... View to the west. City. dominated by tenements and Meadowbank Sports Centre in foreground i twoard the centre of Edinburgh indicates:
* strength of the tenemental urban edge .,.... * the proximity of Holyrodd Park R * thenegligible visiual impact of Calton Hill - nature of London Road as vehicular artery * the extent of the landtake at Mea,dowbank ...... View B - View to the north
1 A panorama looking north across the horizon to Leith indicates: ...... * the strong urban edge of London Road . ' ' .. * the flat dip in which the site sits View to the north: Leith topography falls toward Leith and toward the Forth so skyline dominated by foreground - the proximity of the East Coast Mainline ...... *. the gentle rise of Marionviile .....
View C - View to the east ...... " ...... A panorama looking east toward...... Portobeilo .. i'::' ...... , .I ...... I. ,,,...... indicatesr...... I:...... P * Piershill stretching along Portobello Road I. - imposing nature of the Parish Church ...... - the rise of Willow Brae along the A1 d * the extent of Jock's Lodge junction ...... View ( ... .. IView to the east Portonello I Willowbrae again. tew distant Views as toreground dominates ...,...... Accessibility
.. . I- ---- Present Site Constraints
The site is accessed by vehicle from Restairig Road South only. restricting flexiblity. There I would seem little possibility of developing the site without consideration of all three areas::
Lodge.
The aerial photograph hig ‘excellent access to the local and national road network. There is immediate access to public transport on London Road. I This high level of access to public transport Route Analysis would seem capable of supporting a dense development which would help sustain and AI (London Road) further enhance these services. A transport study will be necessary to confirm this. lmI cal Routes Urban Design Standards I 4 East Coast Main-line Railway Route Analysis The Edinburgh Standards for Urban Design provides advice on how new developments 2 S&dM should respond to the desire to enhance the quality of the built environment and public realm. The recommendations take the form of supplementary planning guidance and for the city context can be summarised as follows:
Integrate new development and contribute to distinctiveness .f Protect and enhance strategic views . ... . :. : * Define city edges ... * Aim to improve image and legibility * Strengthen and extend the network of green and civic spaces
Road Network
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Urban Character
.... Piershill
Denoted in blue. Piershill lies immediately to the east of Jock's Lodge and a mile west of Portobeilo. Originally Piershill Barracks. the current buildings are 3 and 4storey tenemental residential in the Scots Vernacular. Designed by the Local Council in the 1930s. it is quality housing stock but has suffered from a poor reputation in recent years.
Parson's Green
Denoted in green. Parson's Green lies opposite thesite tothesouth of London Road.stretching back up the hill. The tenements to the south on London Road have a series of quality local amenities including a butcher and a branch bank. Other than these tenements, the housing stock is Victorian terracing of good quality...... Marionville ...... 1... . :: Denoted in purple, Marionville is an area of ...... mainly single storey bungalows built during the 1930's and 1950's followinq the topopgraphy with a typical architectural style using stone, render and slate. Much iess dense than either Piershill or Parson's Green, it maintains a typically suburban feel, spread out over wlde roads with few amenities nearby.
Meadowbank
Depicted orange. Meadowbank'sports Centre is an established municipal sports facility I which has held two Commonwealth Games. -- As illustrated by the aerial. the land take is ..... substantial and although in political limbo at the time of writing, the land has been denoted in the Finalised Edinburqh City Local Plan(March 2007) as a site to meet strategic nos nq reqdrements (Po cy HSGll) w th ana est matea capacity of 800 nouses over the 10 nectare site. Parson's Green Terrace.
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Urban Analysis
Summar
Visual Analysis
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* Site developed as St Margaret's * Site situated in mixed use area - 8m drop to south edge of site * Excellent access to sunlight - Existing buildings visible from high points Locomotive works in 1840's * Surrounded by extensive areas of green * Sensitive boundary condition to south * Site little affected by overshadowing in city (Calton Hill, Salisbury Crags) Site currently occupied by St Margaret's space edge Opportunity to capture passive solar gain * Massing highly visible from immediate House, Meadowbank House and a variety * Little change to area of site in * Site proper mainly level. * Prevailing south-westerly winds surroundings of Victorian buildings recent years * 3 level zones apparent * Views to Calton Hill from west of site * Site approximately 5 5 acres - Variety of building scale and type Main aspect N. E and W * Situated 2 miles from the city centre. dominated by residential use.
Skyline Plannlna Context Urban Character
* South and east skyline encroached upon by * Proposals will incorporate urban design * Local area has varied character * Excellent access to local and national road * London Road (the AI) is an important local immediate context standards * Bungalows in Marionville follow topography networks and national vehicular route * Vlew west to the city dominated by Meadowbank area suitable for housing and Parson's Green contains Victorian and post * Sitesituated on main bus routes * Solid rail edge to north side of street forms Meadowbank. Calton Hill only visible from compatible uses war housing stock * Pedestrian permeability very limited boundary west edge of site Provision of 25% onsite affordable housing * Meadowbank sports centre cited in local Vehicular access limited to east edge * View North over Marionvilie towards required plan for possible re-development * Bordered by major rail line along entire Leith and out over Forth is clear of any north edge significant buildings . :...... ~ -
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it is important that the brief. as part of the overall design process, explores certain hey site issues at this early stage This process is not conclusive and willdevelop asthe understanding of the site. city context and programme becomes more distilled The strategy explores the following urban issues which. through the analysis of context, are hey to the success of achieving good quality development.
- Creation of space - Approach to Levels
Massing
Public realm
Sense of place
Sustainable Communities
Site Analysis: Focal
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The Edinburgh Standards for Urban Design is central to the analysis process and formulating the design strategy The document identifies research of successful and problematic development within the city and the principal urban design issues at various city wide dimensions
* Successful urban space is defined and enclosed by buildings, structures and landscape
* A clear access network, a coherent spatial structure. appropriate building relationships and vistas to focal points help orientation and identification
f The formation of a coherent landscape strategy is central to the building location
The options Investigate the creation of landscape zones within the site to define potential building areas The eventual form of the landscape will be defined at the next stage of the process and could take the form of tree lined streets. parks or private garden space
- The orientation of the landscape is Important to ensure good daylight throughout all times of the day and to I- enable vistas to be created towards the city centre and Fife % . . ...
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to redirect the needs of the car to those of the pedestrian and cyclist by the creation;
. - Connections through the development .. . ..
, * Walkways will provide a choice of routes . ' for the occupants and must be safe and accessible
* Permeability through the development to the connecting streets is critical to enable an integrated neighbourhood which wiii facllitate social inclusion.
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Private courtyards will offer space fori personal relaxation and supervision of ,, . .. . smaiichiidren. , . .,..,, , , ,,,I...... Green Spaces will enable a greater resident interaction and play in a safe ...,. . environment. , .. , . , , ..., ,..,...... A clear distinction wiii be made between private and common open space The vehicular routes will be clearly identified, but will not be prominent throughout the development
Concept: Urban Space
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...... * Co-ordinated design in the public reaim ' . I,::' ...... is essential: new development should ...... considersignage,street lighting andstreet ,. ,, ,, ,...... ,...... furniture as an important part of a detailed ...... ,, , i.: ...... proposal. I ,, i .... , ...... Street furniture will be used to assist , , ...... /. .. /. . .. the creation and deiiniation of the public : : I realm...... * Possible parking on single level undercroft based on current plots. developed to full site boundary:.
* Strategy for new street: emergency vehicles and servicing only.
* Parking Strategy: Access from Restairig Road South to parking undercroft as sole entrvlexit - reflects current restrictions.
...... The St. Margaret's House Urban Analysisshouid .. be read in conjunction with the St. Margaret's House Development Brief and the St.Margaret's House Community Consultation... document. I...... I- ...... I ......
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