Form

er O

deon

Des

ign

Stat

emen

t 20

12

1

Proposed Student Accommodation Buccleuch Street/Former Odeon, Edinburgh

The Site

The former Odeon located within Edinburgh’s South Side Conservation Area was built in 1930 and operated as a cinema for over 70 years. The cinema is a Category A listed building which showcases some unique aspects of 1930s cinema design. The Odeon moved from the building in 2003 and has been unoccupied since.

The design proposal replaces the redundant flytower to the rear of the former Odeon stage and replaces it with a new, student housing, infill, building. The new structure is indicated in yellow in the massing diagram opposite.

The new building provides an infill to the gap in the tenement block forming a new frontage and entrances on Buccleuch Street.

The new accommodation is organised around an external courtyard formed between the the new building and the existing tenement at no.s 79-81 Buccleuch Street.

The removal of the existing flytower significantly improves the aspect and levels of daylight to this tenement which currently faces the blank gable of the flytower.

79-81

Buccleuch Street93-9

5

Clerk Street

Former Odeon

Summary

Development strategy /Accommodation

The demolition of the “moderately” significant flytower and the construction of the new building constitutes Enabling Development. This is inextricably linked to the initiative to secure the building’s future as a revitalised entertainment venue. The proposals retain all of the parts of the former Odeon Building which are identified as being “significant” in the Conservation Plan, including the auditorium.

The redevelopment of the building is based on limited and selective demolition: the acceptance that in order to allow new use, some level of sacrifice has to be made to facilitate development. Through the design process, the team have strived to avoid the loss of significant historic fabric and respect the original features of the building. In order to enable development, the proposals are based on the removal of the flytower and queue shelter. The design objective has been to replace this with an appropriate architectural intervention for the future.

The proposed new student accommodation comprises 17 no. student flats arranged in clusters of 4-8 bedrooms around common kitchens. The total number of bedrooms is 102 which includes 2 no. visitor rooms.

16.11.12047 Odeon Student HousingAccommodation Schedule

Floor No. of Flats No. of Rooms Total Rooms GIA (sqm) GIA (sqft)

Flat A Flat B Flat C

6 2 4 5 n/a 9 233 2508

5 2 5 6 n/a 11 270 2906

4 3 6 6 6 18 412 4435

3 3 6 6 6 18 412 4435

2 3 6 6 6 18 412 4435

1 3 6 6 6 18 412 4435

0 2 8 n/a 2 10 324 3488

Total 18 102 2475 26641

GIA per Room GIA per Room

(sqm) (sqft)

24.26 261.19

* Visitor Rooms** Total Includes 2 no. Visitor Rooms

*

**

Section through new courtyard

Ground floor Accommodation plan

Buccleuch Street

Retained Auditorium

Reception / Office

Visitor Rooms

Circulation

8 Bed Flat

79-81

Courtyard

EntranceOffice

Kitchen

Scale and massing

The development proposals are based on the massing envelopes established by the existing flytower.

The floorplates of accommodation abutting the retained gable of the former Odeon Cinema are shallower than the existing flytower so the new courtyard space will offer significantly more daylight and aspect to the adjacent tenement than the present condition.

As Proposed

Existing

South West Elevation to Buccleuch Street

Buccleuch Street frontage

The proposed scheme will include a much-needed infill development for the current gap along Buccleuch Street at the rear of the former Odeon. This building will be sympathetic in scale and massing to the rest of the street, but reflect the fact that it is a new, contemporary insertion into the existing urban fabric of different use to its neighbouring buildings. A contemporary reference to the Clerk Street art deco facade is intended to visually link the public frontages of the building.

Form

er O

deon

Des

ign

Stat

emen

t 20

12

64

Details and materials: Buccleuch Street

The new Buccleuch Street frontage forms an infil between existing tenements . It is sympathetic in scale, proportion and verticality to the adjacent architecture, and is complementary in materials and detail. These will be contemporary in style, using a combination of crisp white render, polished concrete and generously proportioned glazing.

Translucent glass panel with graphic to ground floor

Opaque glass panels to setbacks

PPC aluminium clad timber frame windows

Polished Concrete Panels

White Rendered Frame

Timber gate to courtyard

65

Details and materials: Courtyard Elevations

White Render

Brickwork to complement

existing

Brickwork to complement

existingGrey metal

panelsThe flank walls of the rear elevations are brick in a reference to both the demolished flytower and the retained auditorium.

The approach is to complement the existing brickwork rather than trying to match it exactly which would only be unsuccessful due to the patina acquired by its age.

Grey metal panels to the upper floors use the colour palette of the surrounding slate. The courtyard elevation uses a white render to reflect light into the space.