Tall change for university as campus revamp scaled back

UNIVERSITY bosses have scaled back controversial multi-million-pound plans to transform a teaching campus off the Royal Mile after concerns about the height of two of the buildings.

Edinburgh University's proposals for the area around the current Moray House education centre, between the Canongate and Holyrood Road, include the demolition of the existing 1960s buildings and the creation of new teaching facilities, hundreds of student flats, offices, shops, bars and restaurants.

The plans attracted more than a dozen objections from local residents and community groups, who were concerned about the height of some of the buildings and the impact they would have on the historic Old Town.

The objections have led university chiefs to revise their plans by reducing the height of the two tallest buildings by seven metres.

Initial plans to include private apartments have also been dropped, in favour of building 912 bedrooms for postgraduate students.

Jane Johnston, Edinburgh University's estate development manager, said: "The scheme has changed, with reduced footprint and a reduction in the height of one of the blocks.

"The biggest change is that it is now a scheme for postgraduate housing, rather than selling off part of it to a housing developer. The reason for that is, in the current climate, the site is not worth as much as it was when the original masterplan was worked on and the university now needs to increase the number of student bed spaces, particularly for postgraduates."

City council planning officials have recommended that the scheme is given the go-ahead, with councillors making a final decision tomorrow.

John Bury, the council's head of planning, said the development would "make a positive contribution to the regeneration of the area".

He said: "It will improve the quality of the public realm within the site and in the immediate area, including the creation of new civic spaces and traffic-free pedestrian routes."

It will be the university's biggest development since the creation of its new informatics centre, near George Square.

Chessel's Court flat owner Findlay Stark was among the local residents who lodged objections to the plans. He said: "The scale of the proposed development is out of keeping with the many listed buildings in adjacent parts of the World Heritage Site.

"The proposed development would produce a significant change in the skyline of this part of the Old Town, particularly viewed from street level."

University chiefs agreed to a series of changes, including reducing the height of the two tallest buildings to 70 metres, introducing "more pitched roof forms" and reducing the number of student bedrooms by 88, to 912.

The development proposals won support from city conservation watchdog the Cockburn Association, which said they are "appropriate to this sensitive site in adapting the Moray House estate to Edinburgh University's needs".