Castle under attack from top architect

Published on Thursday 28 May 2009 09:42

EDINBURGH Castle's prominence on the skyline of Edinburgh is "overrated", a leading architect has claimed.

Professor Isi Metzstein was giving evidence at the public inquiry into the Haymarket development, which would see a 17-storey, five-star hotel built next to the station.

Objectors, including the Cockburn Association, say the tower is too tall and will rise to the height of the Castle battlements.

Prof Metzstein said the Castle, "did tend to give the impression that everything must be subservient to it," and said he thought the hotel could be a "dynamic" addition to the skyline.

The former Forbes professor of architecture at Edinburgh University said: "It is provocative, interesting and stimulating... In modern times we don't build cathedrals and churches; something has to come along to leaven the bread."

The inquiry, which began on Monday, runs for two weeks.