Edinburgh Evening News

Artist's Impression

Our architects' practice has watched the evolution of the masterplan for Caltongate over the past 18 months from a ringside seat. We'll be working on some of the buildings on the site, together with other Edinburgh architects, and as such we've listened with incredulity to the comments from Edinburgh's heritage lobby. Allan Murray Architects' masterplan is an imaginative design for regenerating this part of the city. If approved, it would rank alongside some of the major city improvements promoted by the council's forebears in the 19th century. Concentrating development on difficult city centre sites is a challenge, but it's the right way to go. In the past few years, the city planners have swung away from supporting new development around the city to focus on developments closer to the core. All of us who live in the city are seeing the benefits of this. The economic benefits of the Caltongate masterplan are clear, but what is less obvious is the way the masterplan works to give the location a new sense of place.