Former Tynecastle High School

Having looked at residential options previously, multiple volume home builders had rejected the site due to a number of constraints. The site sits beside Tynecastle Stadium and adjacent to the North British Distillery. Noise, odour and air quality made mainstream housing less attractive and not financially viable.

The aim of the development was to respect and preserve the heritage whilst finding a sustainable and commercial solution for the building and surrounding area. Student accommodation was the answer, preserving and regenerating the John Alexander Carfrae school building with additional new building in the courtyard space.

With a cellular layout, the building works well for student conversion without extensive alterations to the existing fabric. This would not have been the case for other uses. And with high requirement for student accommodation in Edinburgh, it reduces the demand on traditional housing stock.

Carefully restoring the site provides a high-quality scheme and amenity space for the local community. Preserving the heritage element, reinstating the original courtyard and replacing the hard urban surfaces with green space, all improve the outlook for the surrounding properties.

Sustainability and re-use have been prioritised. The car-free environment focuses on green space, cycle parking provision and low carbon technologies.

Central ‘collegiate’ style courtyards support planting and encourage bio-diversity and water attenuation. These spaces will be surrounded by the new buildings acting as buffers between this space, the adjacent distillery and the western approach road.

A community facility is accessible from the adjacent street, whilst a sheltered urban farm is also planned for use by the local community.

The completion date for phases one and two was expected to be August 2026, but with excellent progress on site phase one has been delivered way ahead of schedule. This is of huge benefit to the city when there is high demand from the student population.

Purpose-built student accommodation will sit alongside the restored school building, known as Fern House. The two new-build blocks are on track for completion and handover in August 2026, ready for the next academic year.