Artisan expands Scottish operation as part of £140m new homes commitment

Artisan Real Estate has added to its management team as the developer moves forward with its £140 million investment plan focusing on low carbon city centre residential redevelopment across Edinburgh and Glasgow.Experienced property professional David Westwater will join Artisan this month as Scottish regional manager, following 40 years of industry experience including Frasers Property UK, Interserve plc and most recently, as development director at Robertson Property.Mr Westwater will help take forward Artisan’s ambitious plans to progress low carbon housing development with mixed-use regeneration across prime city centre brownfield sites – including a £98m residential investment for Edinburgh alone.Artisan has witnessed a significant expansion of its home-building operation in Scotland during the past 12-months, building on its more established track record as one of the UK’s most recognised and award-winning city centre regeneration specialists.The developer will shortly begin construction on Rowanbank Gardens, a sustainable residential development delivering 126 high-end apartments in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh. The development, on a former brownfield site, provides smart energy-efficient design geared to achieving low to zero carbon ratings whilst responding to the rapidly changing requirements of home buyers and the wider community following lockdown.Artisan’s first residential development in Scotland, the 180-apartment Canonmills Garden overlooking the Water of Leith to the north of Edinburgh city centre, has now sold 85% of all available properties as it approaches completion later this year.Construction work on the £80m transformation of the Custom House building in Glasgow overlooking the River Clyde continues apace with a four-star, 294-bed Clayton Hotel and a 162-bedroom Adagio Apart-Hotel set to create a vibrant riverside quarter when it opens in 2022. Plaudits are still being received for Artisan’s £250m New Waverley development at the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, completed in 2020.The development’s Queen Elizabeth House, now the flagship UK Government hub now home to 2,900 civil servants, was recently recognised by the British Council for Offices and was awarded its Innovation Award, gaining national profile for the development.