Builder Balfour Beatty backs Edinburgh student flats plan

Balfour Beatty Investments, owned by Balfour Beatty plc, has this week lodged plans with JM Architects for the demolition of the former Scottish Law Commission on Causewayside in the Scottish capital, for accommodation for 174 students.

How the new building on the southside of Edinburgh might look (Image: JM Architects/Balfour Beatty)

It raises the question again of whether we can save more empty buildings. In Glasgow, where there are two million square feet of vacant office space, there is a will to find a solution to bring empty city centre behemoths back to life, but little in the way of means.

Separately, one Scottish capital-based expert, Alasdair Steele of Knight Frank, earlier called for consideration of balance on the office market, which he described as being one of the sectors hardest hit by the barrage of challenges brought forth since Covid hit.

The brutalist former Royal Bank of Scotland complex on Edinburgh’s Dundas Street is now no more, making way for the £250 million New Town Quarter, with 350 homes and a hotel included in the offering.

The former RBS building that made way for one of the largest redevelopments in the city centre (Image: Newsquest)

Up the hill on Princes Street plans for the "total demolition" of a former Next store and offices as part of the £100m Roby Hotel development are under way.

The Edinburgh Urban Design Panel, which guides on planning issues and includes representatives from heritage bodies such as the Cockburn Association and Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, said of Causewayside: "The case for demolition needs further consideration."

The historic site dates beyond the 16th century, and later was home to the Causewayside School, which was demolished in 1966 and the existing structure built.

There could be concrete issues with the 1960s office block on Causewayside (Image: Google)

Balfour Beatty cited issues including the bespoke nature of the existing structure, adding the manufacturer and exact detailing of the prestressed concrete floors are currently unknown, and while its reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) construction inspection was non-invasive it placed the risk at medium level.

The developer said: "A significant number of challenges have been identified and would have to be overcome in order to keep the existing construction and adapt it into the proposed student accommodation. It would also be likely that a significant amount of carbon would be incurred through the redevelopment and adaption of the existing building with no guarantee that the carbon emissions would be lower than a new build development."

Elsewhere this week, business editor Ian McConnell casts a critical eye across the economy and writes: "It was difficult to know quite what to think about the UK Government proclaiming between Christmas and New Year that it would be using the country’s ‘Brexit freedoms’ to enable ‘pints’ of wine to be stocked on Britain’s shelves for the ‘first time ever.

"A few things came swiftly to mind."

Deputy business editor Scott Wright highlighted a clutch of top hospitality closures in his column - "The festive season was brought to a shuddering halt when several high-profile operators took to social media to announce the closure of their ventures."

Back to bricks and mortar, business correspondent Kristy Dorsey writes that property management company Taylor & Martin has launched a campaign to make it easier for tenement owners to switch providers if they want better service for their homes.