Councillors to consider Coburg House Art Studios demolition

The planning committee will shortly consider whether to extend an existing planning permission that could eventually see the Coburg House Art Studios demolished and replaced with a block of modern office and flats.

The building lies within the Leith Conservation Area, and in our view is a unique, and valuable piece of Leith's cultural heritage.

As the building is currently being successfully used by the Coburg House Art Studios it seems difficult to see the justification for knocking down a building which acts as "a hub of creativity," in Leith. 

Last time the planning committee considered developers plans for the site, in 2005, (before Greener Leith existed we should point out...) councillors gave permission for the building to be demolished. Here's what the planning officials said about it in the report at the time: 

"The existing building is a very unusual but rather unattractive warehouse, dating from around 1930, with no windows to the street, and unsuited to any conversion, with the existing office component within having very limited outlook, solely to the side close. Historical evidence indicates a solid and high built form on the site (and others adjacent) up until around 1925, at which time the Edinburgh Corporation cleared this formerly medieval site to build commercial floorspace.

All that remains of the historic fabric here is the pattern of medieval closes and a plaque on the building dating from the early 18th century (with a much later explanatory plaque attached). The existing building is out of character with the area, of inappropriate scale, design and materials, but is worthy of recording prior to demolition."

A great deal of this is of course is aesthetic judgement. In our view, the essential character of the Leith Conservation Area is that there are a diverse range of buildings that reflect the different periods of Leith's history.

Planning Officers seem to imply that demolishing the building and replacing it with a modern, and arguably blander looking, construction would represent a move towards reinstating what was there pre-1925 - and is therefore historically consistent. 

Yet when you consider the proposed new building in context with both the older and the more modern blocks around it, it is clear to us which building would look most historically consistent and would most add value to the Leith Conservation Area. It wouldn't be another, not particularly inspiring, new build office block. 

This is what the replacement building on Coburg St could look like.

We take the view that the most sensitive thing to do is to ask developers to come back with a redevelopment proposal that would preserve far more of the outer fabric of this building in a bid to better celebrate, preserve and recognise Leith's industrial heritage.

The existing planning permission should not therefore be renewed.

We don't think the site should be demolished and sanitised because it is perceived by some as "ununusual and unattractive," from a particular angle.

The fact that it is unusual is what makes it worth preserving! It also has a current, unusual and unique use too.

Therefore, it does also seem reasonable to ask why this building needs to be developed at all, given that it is in productive use and the not insignificant quantity of derelict buildings and brownfield sites in Leith that could benefit from some investment.

As a conseqence we have formally objected to the granting of an extension. We hope our local counillors, two of whom are on the planning committee, will agree with us. 

The building incorporates a stone panel dating from 1715 commemorating the "Carpenters of North Leith." You can find out more about that here.