Albany Street Developments Ltd seek planning permission to demolish the empty garage and offices at 21 McDonald Place and build a five-storey, 14-unit apartment block in its place (Ref. 16/01329/FUL).
On-site storage for bins, and parking for cars and cycles are part of the proposals.
Although higher than the terraced buildings immediately adjacent, the planned property would not overshadow them, say Staran Architects. (A detailed ‘shadow study’ forms Appendix A of the accompanying design statement.) The proposed structure would be lower than the six-storey flats to the east and west.
Buff brick, zinc and glass are proposed for the development (matching previously approved materials in buildings nearby, say the architects). However, in the accompanying rather nifty aerobatic fly-thru – complete with moving cars and jogger – much of the building’s two street-facing elevations appears to be a funereal black mass.
The block breaks down into eight 1-bedroom, three 2-bedroom and three 3-bedroom flats. There’s a shared garden to the rear, two private and one communal roof terraces at the top.
The total number of units created is 14, all to the minimum space standards set out in the Edinburgh Council Design Guidance, and three units at 91 square meters or above. The latter point is in reference to meeting the standard of 20% of units to be a minimum of 91 square metres in order to meet requirements of families.
Spurtle will not miss the former premises of the Edinburgh Motor Company, and we welcome re-use of the site for housing.
However, one potential problem here may be noise. A condition of planning consent for the recent development opposite Lothian Buses’ depot on McDonald Road was that adequate soundproofing be put in place to protect residents from the sound of heavy vehicles coming and going. Future residents in this latest proposal, with their floor-to-ceiling glass frontages, would likely require similar measures to shut out the crash of trolleys and cages in the yard opposite, and the throb of HGVs on the street outside (Breaking news, 17.3.16).
The Planning statement predicts future residential development in the area. We think that’s probable, as is further and intensified conflict in the neighbourhood between domestic occupants and Batleys.
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