St Margaret's House DRAFT 26.02.09 MICHAELLAI RDARCHITECTS " ... ... ............ ...., .. .I. ..... ....... ./ ............ .......... ............. ~ .. ...... ... ,... ,. .. ... ... .. ..... .. ..... .I,. .., .. .... ... .. .. .. .I.. ......... ............. .... .. ... ....... ...... .. .. ............ ........ ....... ... ....... ... .. - ..... ...^ ... .... ~ ... .. ,.... ... ... ... .... .................. ..... ..........,........... .......... .......... .......... ....... ...... ... ..... ... ............. ... .............. ... ..... ..... .....,. ..... ..... ...... ... .....,.. ........ ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ........ .................... ....... ............. ... .......... ........ ........ ....... ..... ....... ..... .. ... ... ............ .......... ... ... ........ ....... ... .. ................. ..... ........ ,., .... ... .... ...... .. .. ........... ... ..........- . .- ..... .. .... i.; . ........ ... ... ..- ... ... .... ..... .... .. ..... ... , ,., ... ... ......................... .... ................ ... .......... ............ ... .. .. ... .... .... .. ..~ ...... ....... .. ... .... ...., ........ l._. ...... ........ .. .. ... ....... ..... ..... ... ....... - .. ,. ... ... ... ....... ....., . ... ... ... .. .... .x. ~ ... ........ '.,.:1 ,. .. ..... ... ... ....... ........ .... ... Introduction 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 - \, Page 12 ....... .. ..... ... ...... ...,. ... ..... ...... ...... ........ ....... .,.. ,I. ..... ....... :: Michael Laird Architects ..... .....St Margaret's House Development Brief 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. .... ... ..... ... ..... .. -----.?-- a: "71 ....... ..... ....... ... ..... .. 1. ... ........ .......... , .. ..... I .I .... ... ... ... .... ..... .. ... ..... ..,~ .... .. .......... ... .. ,. , .... .. .... .. , , ,.,.,,..,..,.. .,...... ... ...... ... ,I.. .. ..... ..... ,I. ., .. , ..... ......... ..... ........ .... .... ..... .... ..... ..... ...... ,. , ...... ,. , ............ ......... ..... Meadowbank ... :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. ... .. ............ ......... ... ... .... ............ ........ ... ..... ....., .* Page I 4 ,. 1 ,,I. , . ... .............. .......,. ........ .............. .. .......... .......... ......... - Michael Laird Architects St Marqaret's House Development Brief ...... Urban Analysis ;:; .. .. ...... .. .. ......... ......... 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.- ..... ..... .............. .... ... .. .......... ....... ..... ........ .... ....... ... .. .. .. ,. ...... .......... ........ ......... .......... ......... ........ ........ ......... ....... .......... Page 15 ...... ,.. ... ..... ..... ..... .... ..., ., ....- .. ... .< ... ... ,.,. .. .I .. ..... ,. .. ....... ....... ..... .. ....... ,.' .... .... .I ... " .. ... ... ........ ... Histori ......... 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 ..