Newington Residences
Bringing clarity and community to a rundown educational site
The former Royal Blind School had been added to over the decades, creating a site that was incoherent and cluttered. Our challenge was to transform the site into a legible residential development that celebrated the original building.
- Location Newington, Edinburgh
- Client CALA Homes
- Status Complete
- Services Architecture
- Size 52 Units
- Photography Chris Humphreys
Bringing old and new together, the design celebrates the original listed building.
History
Designed by Charles Leadbetter, the original Royal Blind School in Edinburgh’s Newington was built in 1876. A World Class facility at the time, the school moved to new premises in 2014 as new methods of teaching and different requirements meant the existing campus was no longer viable.
Although C-listed, the existing stone-built school building retained very little original features, and its setting had been compromised by a series of additions and extensions from different eras.
3D Visual created for Planning
Transforming the Site.
Our proposals for CALA provide high quality residential accommodation with meaningful landscaped areas, which return a sense of clarity to the site whilst retaining and refurbishing the original stone building.
Outcome
52 units have been provided, with 21 apartments in the original building. The total building footprint for the development is a 16.5% reduction on the existing footprint, creating better spaces which retains the existing mature planting on the site. This also helped us focus the site around the original listed building
Bringing old and new together, the design celebrates the original listed building.
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3D Visual created for Planning
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