waverley market - orinsen€¦ · scott’s design, was inspired by i m pei’s triangulated plan...

WAVERLEY MARKETJuly 2020

SUTHERLAND HUSSEY HARRIS

SUTHERLAND HUSSEY HARRIS 1

CONTENT

CONTEXT

ROOFTOP PROPOSAL

PHASE 1 - 2020

COOP UNIT

COOP IN CONTEXT

COOP FEASIBILTY OF LAYOIT

INTERIOR VIEWS

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1CONTEXT


The Waverley valley is not only a unique example of how a city can embrace its landscape but also how the landscape can enhance the prospect of the city, conspiring to create one of the most magnificent urban landscape settings central to Edinburgh’s status as a world heritage city.

The valley, conceived as a strategic divide between the ridges of the old and new towns contains The Princes Street gardens within which sits a series of stone solitaire edifices located adjacent to the strategic connections crossing the valley, to the East of the gardens a landscape of glazed roof lanterns extend over the tracks of Waverley station contained on the East by George IV bridge.

SITUATION

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The site of the former Waverley market and current Waverley Mall is captured between Princes Street, the Balmoral hotel , Waverley station and Waverley Bridge.

The original market building which pre-dated the construction of the Balmoral hotel was a magnificent cast iron structure surmounted by an ingenious formal ‘parterre’ garden landscape of inverted roof-lanterns illuminating the market hall below.

HISTORIC CONTEXT


The design of the original roof landscape as a classical ‘ parterre’ was further reinforced and enhanced by the arrival of the New Balmoral hotel playing its part in the tradition of the ‘palace or castle’ overlooking its formal apron of gardens.

The market was demolished in 1982 to make way for a more internalised ‘shopping mall’ designed by BDP. Keith Scott’s design, was inspired by I M Pei’s triangulated plan for the National Gallery of Modern Art in Washington DC. This design promoted the idea of a more abstract ‘garden plaza’ accessed primarily from Princes Street, interrupted by a series of triangular lantern forms raised to allow entry to the lower two storey’s of shopping mall.

The overall height of any proposal on this site had been previously established by height limit promoted by Lord Cockburn and enshrined by an Act of Parliament to protect the views for residents from the first floor of Princes Street The overall height above Princes Street was not to exceed 71.522m OD. This was challenged by

1EXISTING MALL

the RFACS in a public enquiry in 1981 and a revised height of 68.14 OD was agreed for the new BDP proposal.

The design which resulted from this new height restriction ensured that the views to the old town from the Southern edge of Princes Street would be maintained, however the consequence of both a rather a-contextual design approach to the garden/plaza and the reduced height resulted in what has been proven to be a less than successful urban space which neither gives the benefits of a proper garden or contributes to the urban realm as a coherent public space.

The original design has been further compromised over time by successive piece-meal revisions and amendments resulting in a less than coherent design for both the shopping mall interior and the rooftop space.


The top of the current mall suffers from a number of issues. The configuration of the urban space between the various lanterns and planters has created a lack of coherence and clarity. and the convoluted pathways and routes also offer little amenity and do not act as effective thoroughfares.

Furthermore without any permanent presence of retail or any active use supporting activity on the open spaces (ensuring a passive monitoring and supervision) there has been a steady rise in antisocial behavior throughout the site, both at roof level and on the Waverley steps . The proposal hopes to address these issues through the intensification of use on the upper level along with a combination of good lighting, coherent design of public space and restricting access to the market area at night.

The success of Edinburgh as the ‘Festival City’ has put huge pressure on open space particularly within the city centre. Pop up events have been manifest in a variety of ways on the Waverley Mall rooftop from the extension of the Princes street gardens

EXISTING MALL

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Christmas festival and market to its recent use as a Festival village.

The new owners of the site (acquired in March 2017) have been actively researching and testing the market to understand the nature and scope of the types of food and beverage and activity which would be both suitable and meet their aspirations and be economically sustainable both within the site and on the rooftop and this research has informed the design process and studies to date

The success of these pop up events reflects the type of activities seen in other European and Global cities and clearly demonstrates an ever increasing appetite in this location. The interest created through a mixed and eclectic range of fresh food and drink in tandem with entertainment can successfully support an almost continuous series of festivals and events throughout the year. Through understanding the potential market the clients can start to create a context which can accommodate a more permanent solution more appropriate to the location and acknowledging this unique site’s prominence and heritage.


2ROOFTOP PROPOSAL

New Roof Top Development, Princes Street Entrance and Waverley Link/Escalators the current entrances into the Mall are poor and relatively inaccessible. This in turn leaves the rooftop area underutilised, potentially attracting undesirables and inviting anti-social behaviour. In fact the level of serious anti-social behaviour across the roof area has historically been and continues to be a specific area of concern highlighted by Police Scotland as requiring urgent attention.

The proposed roof top developments will address these issues through provision of an activated, well lit, safe and secure space. Customer access to and egress from the Station lifts will be enhanced as a result of the increased activities and security. Adjoining premises, such as the Balmoral Hotel, will also benefit from the removal of the current anit-social activities taking place within the vicinity of the Station lifts.


2ROOFTOP PROPOSAL- North Elevation


2ROOFTOP PROPOSAL- Key Views


2ROOFTOP PROPOSAL- South Elevation


2ROOFTOP PROPOSAL- West Elevation


3ROOFTOP PROPOSAL- Phase 1 -2020


4COOP - Street level plan in context


4COOP - Detailed plan of unit


5COOP IN CONTEXT- From Princes street


5COOP IN CONTEXT- From top of Waverley steps


5COOP IN CONTEXT- Looking toward the Balmoral


COOP IN CONTEXT- Looking toward the Balmoral 5


6COOP- Feasibility of unit layout

Entrance To Waverley Market

Service Entrance

Entrance to Coop


7COOP INTERIOR SKETCH- Towards Princes st entrance


7COOP INTERIOR SKETCH- Towards Balmpral

waverley market - orinsen€¦ · scott’s design, was inspired by i m pei’s triangulated plan...

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