from WAN

” Derelict quarter given £200 million makeover

Tiger Developments in conjunction with Richard Murphy Architects have begun work on a £200 million plan to build two new hotels, a continental-style boulevard including retail and office space at a derelict site in Edinburgh city centre. Richard Murphy, CDA and Sutherland Hussey have drawn up designs for the project, to be known as ‘The Haymarket.” With construction beginning on site before the year is out, completion is hoped for 2012.

The most significant component of the entire enterprise is the construction of a monument-like 192 bed, five star hotel, The 17 storey, leaf-shaped building has been designed to stand near Haymarket Station, orientated to create a gateway of blade-like sharpness in the form of a tower, with an attached lower rise building and shared atrium running between it.

The hotel will take its place as Edinburgh’s third railway hotel alongside the established landmarks of the Balmoral and the Caledonian hotels. As with these hotels, this new fabrication will, deliberately, be markedly 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 nearby St Mary’s Cathedral.

Richard Murphy said, “The five-star hotel will re-define Haymarket in the same way The Balmoral transformed the Waverley Valley and the Caledonian Hotel enhanced the West End of Edinburgh.”

Most of the social functions of the hotel are placed at the top of the building, acting as a beacon at night and functioning as a gateway building marking entry into the World Heritage Site when approaching from the west.

This enhancement is expected to breathe new life into an area that is in much need of rejuvenation, enabling it to play a major role in the future economic and social life of the city.” David G Schiavone- Reporter
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Project Description released by Richard Murphy Architects


Historic View of Haymarket
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This is the largest project the practice has ever contemplated and our 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 be completely responsible for the design of a new 192 bed five star hotel. A second three star hotel, designed by our colleagues, Sutherland Hussey Architects, is also part of our master-plan. Tiger Developments approached the practice when the site was for sale and we were delighted when their bid was successful in the summer of 2006.
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Aerial Photo of Site
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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, proposed a mostly office and retail development and received consent in 2006.

We have adopted a radically different approach from the EDI scheme. We have expanded the concept of what constitutes the Haymarket to make substantial amounts of new public space which coincide with the location of the railway tunnels and therefore avoiding the requirement to construct above them. In the centre of the site is placed a major triangular office building and this defines the edge of the new Haymarket space. Along the Morrison Link is a second office building and forming the final side of a triangular public space to the rear is the third. The sensitive boundary with the existing “Colony” housing at Dalry is where the three star hotel is located, the rear of which has been deliberately modelled to respond to both the intimate spaces of the Colony streets and also to give courtyards onto which gable end windows look.
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View East from Haymarket
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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. Like these hotels, this new building will also deliberately 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, acting as a beacon at night with the location functioning as a gateway building marking the entry into the World Heritage Site when approaching from the west.
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Night View East from Haymarket
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The public open space designed by our colleagues at Gross Max, landscape architects, is predominately pedestrian, but with a one-way vehicle traffic for access and service vehicles only. A 450 space underground carpark replaces the existing parking.

The Planning application for these proposals were approved by Edinburgh City Council at the end of June 2008.”

Architects: Richard Murphy, Matt Bremner and Core Team
Construction Cost: £100m
Client: Tiger Developments Ltd
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View West along Boulevard
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Night View From Grosvenor Street
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