3DReid Edinburgh student accommodation approved on appeal

The Scottish Government has approved 3DReid’s plans for 76 student flats in Edinburgh’s Canongate, a UNESCO World Heritage siteIn January 2019, 3DReid submitted plans for a development of 91 student flats with an off-white façade at 179a Canongate. But later that year it overhauled the plans to feature a four-storey office development. The new scheme featured salmon-pink brickwork, which planners said would better respect the World Heritage Site.The office plans were approved by the City of Edinburgh Council in 2020, but in March this year 3DReid and developer Summix submitted a third set of plans, this time for 75 student flats on the site. This scheme had very similar articulation and massing to the office scheme, but with a slightly taller main block and changes to fenestration details.In August the City of Edinburgh Council rejected the student homes scheme, arguing that the demolition of a 1980s office building and partial demolition of an unlisted, 19th century former gasworks would adversely effect the character and appearance of the city’s Old Town conservation area.However, these latest plans have now been approved by Scottish ministers following a recommendation by Claire Milne, a reporter for the Scottish government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division.Milne said she was satisfied that the ‘proposed demolition would not harm the setting of any nearby listed buildings and would not have an adverse effect on the character of appearance of the Old Town Conservation Area’.Nearby listed buildings include the Category A-listed structures of Canongate Kirk church, dating to 1691, as well as Canongate Tolbooth, built in 1591.Milne also said the latest scheme would not cause more demolition than the extant scheme – as the ‘extent of down-takings is consistent with that formerly approved except for a section of historic boundary wall to the north-east, which is to be retained’.The consented scheme will feature a five-storey building with a triple-pitched roof on the west side of the site, as well as two-storey building with a pitched roof on the east side. Historic perimeter walls will be altered and retained, with an original workshop also being incorporated into the development.Chris Dobson, director at 3DReid, said: ‘Maintaining the considered and sensitive approach to the specifics of the site and its surroundings, as established within the planning consent for the previous office iteration, the revised proposals continue these established principles of articulation, massing and materiality, as positively received by the local authority and heritage bodies, whilst carefully tailoring them towards purpose-built student accommodation use.’Stuart Black of Summix Developments said: ‘With the Reporter upholding the appeal, the delivery of high-quality student accommodation on what is a brownfield site, can be progressed.‘This will be a highly energy-efficient building, incorporating low and zero carbon emitting equipment, including air source heat pumps, full LED lighting, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and photovoltaic panels.‘It will also serve to address an increasing demand for student accommodation, and through this assist in moving students out of homes more appropriate for families and into well-managed accommodation.’