Garden and events space in running for £3m prize

A GARDEN cafe and events space proposal for Newhaven is vying with Edinburgh College of Art for a £3 million prize pot being offered to the best city arts project.

The Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop is set to get the go-ahead from city planners for its expansion plans, which include a walled garden and events space, for its existing site at Hawthornvale.

It wants to demolish its existing workshop and replace it with the walled garden incorporating two artist's studios, a community cafe and external area for events and exhibitions. The proposals also include a 90-foot-high tower which would act as a gateway.

But the vision - which city councillors could approve later this month - cannot come to fruition without a massive cash injection. And their bid to win a 3 million prize being offered by the Scottish Community Foundation has pitched them against plans from ECA and the Scottish Book Trust.

David McKenna, an associate with the workshop's planning consultants Sutherland Hussey, said: "The space was commissioned specifically with the funding in mind. Without this money it will be pretty difficult to achieve."

The prize - administered by the Scottish Community Foundation on behalf of an anonymous donor - is to create an arts facility of cultural and architectural merit in the Capital, in either a new or refurbished building.

The art college hopes to create new gallery space at its Lauriston Place entrance to display works of art from its own collections.

The book trust's proposal involves improvements to its premises at Sandeman House, off the Royal Mile, which would boost plans for the creation of a Scottish Literary Quarter.

Both have already secured planning permission, leaving all three anxiously waiting for the announcement of the winning project on October 26.

Nick Addington, of the Scottish Community Foundation, said: "The presentation of this prize is going to be big news for the successful organisation, and for Edinburgh as a whole."

In urging councillors to give planning permission to the Newhaven project, the council's head of planning John Bury said: "The proposed tower will be visible from the street and will mark the building as a public space within the city in a similar way that church spires have done in the past."