Architect: Collective Architecture / Malcolm Fraser Architects
Client: The City of Edinburgh Council / Port of Leith Housing Association
Builder: CCG Ltd
The site is approximately 1.7 hectares and sits within the historic confines of what was once Leith Fort. The site is surrounded by an an existing category B-listed stone wall, the remains of the former Leith Fort. The proposed housing consists of 94 new-build residential units and a communal green space.
The new housing reinterprets the form of colonies housing, a traditional social housing typology found in many neighbourhoods across Edinburgh, with a ground floor single storey flat, and a 2 storey duplex apartment located directly above. This typology not only provides a dense mix of housing, but provides each flat with its own front door and its own private south facing garden. The shared fore-stair and grouped gardens encourage interaction and familiarity between neighbours in the same terrace, whilst the dual entrance arrangement to the front and rear of each terrace, encourages interaction between neighbours of adjacent terraces.
The new community green sits at the heart of the development, a positive focal point for the housing, optimising the principal community connections of the site to each adjacent street.