Date: 12 September 07
Author: Caroline Ednie, Web Editor
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The Haymarket master-plan is the largest project to date that Richard Murphy Architects has taken on. Tiger Developments approached the practice when the site was for sale and their bid was successful in the summer of 2006.
The practice’s role has been three-fold: to master-plan the entire site; to design the exterior of three office buildings working alongside CDA Architects; and to design a new 180 bed five star hotel. A second three star hotel, designed by Sutherland Hussey Architects, is also part of the RMA master-plan.
Unusually, the site has never been developed, having been converted from pasture into goods yards in the mid 19th century. The tracks were removed in the 1960s and the site is currently a car park, although it has been subject to at least two planning consents since then, the most recent by EDI which proposed a mostly office and retail development. This proposal received consent in 2006.
RMA have adopted a radically different approach from the EDI scheme. This involves expanding the concept of what constitutes Haymarket, and aims to make substantial amounts of new public space which coincides with the location of the railway tunnels. This obviates the need to construct above them.
A major triangular office building is located in the centre of the site defining the edge of the new Haymarket space. Along the Morrison Link is a second office building, with a third office forming the final side of a triangular public space to the rear. The hotel is located at the sensitive boundary with the existing “Colony” housing at Dalry, the rear of which has been deliberately modelled to respond to the intimate spaces of the Colony streets.
The most notable feature of the entire project is the construction of a stand alone monument-like five star hotel, which given its proximity to the increasingly busy Haymarket station, will take its place as Edinburgh’s third railway hotel, alongside the familiar landmarks of the Balmoral and the Caledonian hotels. The new hotel, like its predecessors, will also be substantially higher than its surroundings and will contribute to the evolving skyline of the city, but without blocking any significant views of either the Castle or the nearby St Mary’s Cathedral. Most of the social functions of the hotel are placed at the top of the building, which acts as a beacon at night and functions as a gateway building marking the entry into the World Heritage Site when approaching from the west.
The public open space designed by Gross Max landscape architects, is predominately pedestrian, but with a one-way vehicle traffic for access and service vehicles. A 450 space underground car park replaces the existing parking.
Planning application was submitted to Edinburgh City Council at the beginning of September 2007.
Project: Haymarket, Edinburgh
Architect: Richard Murphy Architects
Client: Tiger Developments
Location: Haymarket, Edinburgh
Link: www.richardmurphyarchitects.com
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