Edinburgh approves new Passivhaus homes and early learning centre in Broughton

Proposals to regenerate a council-owned site in Broughton have been approved by the City of Edinburgh Council.Located just north of the city centre, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Powderhall project will be one of the first of its kind in Scotland comprising an early learning and childcare centre as well as 27 council homes for the elderly that are contained within a single, ‘intergenerational’ building.Up to 128 spaces for children between the ages of 2-5 will be created for the local community, with Broughton Primary School managing day-to-day operations, whilst all of the homes will be fully wheelchair-adapted with accessibility supported via two lifts and storage for mobility scooters.A multi-purpose room will be available to the public via the school lets system alongside the creation of civic space and improvements to St Mark’s Path for use by the wider community.The development has been designed by Collective Architecture and will be constructed by CCG (Scotland).Powderhall is set to be the first housing development created by the City of Edinburgh Council to a Passivhaus standard of build. One of the most advanced of its kind in the UK, enhanced specification – including the use of thicker insulation, triple-glazing and advanced construction processes – delivers vastly improved levels of airtightness.Through this enhancement, Passivhaus homes requires very little heat which significantly reduces energy demand, thus, generating lower energy bills for the resident. The addition of renewable technology, such as solar panels and air source heat pumps, means the building will be net zero carbon and as a result will have no carbon emissions from its use.Construction at Powderhall is set to commence in summer-2022.