Most of the following text is taken from www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk.
This car-free 'urban village' for the Canmore Housing Association sits on six hectares of former railway goods yard in the suburb of Gorgie. The traditional Scottish enclosed tenement is wrapped round a tear-shaped green space like 1930's German schemes by May or Taut. Inspired by the shapes of Skara Brae in Orkney and the Aran Isles of Eire the competition design was by Bryan Thomas and Andrew Lee, both of Hackland & Dore Architects.
The Slateford Green project is one of the most sustainable and energy-efficient schemes in Edinburgh of the last few decades, and the district heating system uses waste heat from the local distillery. There are 120 flats, of which 25 are shared ownership, 60 for social rental by the Canmore Housing Association including 17 for those with hearing difficulties and 4 for wheelchair users.
Ironically the Slateford Green design was almost refused planning permission by the City Council due to lack of car spaces despite being fully supported from the start by the City Council as the first of seven sites for housing to reduce car usage. Following acquisition by the Canmore Housing Association parking was reduced from 150% to 10%, influenced by the GWL Terrein masterplan in Amsterdam. Other influences included Ralph Erskine's Byker Wall social housing scheme in Newcastle, Japanese Edo frame techonology and Fumihiko Maki's YKK guest house in Kurabe.
The District heating system borders the Slateford Green site and each flat is connected using stairwell ducts. This is complemented by rainwater collection, reed beds, wintergardens and passivent ventilation by stack effect.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment