Quartermile
Quartermile is the marketing name given to the mixed use redevelopment of the former Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh site, in Lauriston, Edinburgh. It was master-planned by architect Foster + Partners and takes its name from the fact it is a quarter mile (400 m) from Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile and measures a quarter mile from corner to corner. It was built by Edinburgh developer Qmile Group, a holding company. The scheme comprises a mixture of new build apartments, apartments converted from existing nineteenth-century hospital buildings, new build offices, affordable housing, and retail/leisure uses. Completed in 2018 after more than a decade of construction, it contains 1,050 apartments, 370,000 square feet (34,000 m2) of office space, 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) of retail and leisure space and seven-acres of open landscape.[1]
Design
The former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site which was sold by Lothian University Hospital’s NHS Trust in 2001, whereupon Foster and Partners were retained as the architects for new structures[2] whilst plans for the David Bryce-designed former hospital buildings were devised by Comprehensive Design Architects (CDA). The project overlooks and is connected to The Meadows, a large public open space in central Edinburgh.
Tenants
Quartermile’s occupiers include travel company Skyscanner, hardware and software solutions supplier Cirrus Logic, and legal firms Morton Fraser and Maclay Murrays & Spens.[3] In 2017 all commercial units were fully sold or let.
The Quartermile development also houses the Edinburgh Futures Institute, which is the University of Edinburgh’s interdisciplinary hub.[4]
History
The former surgical building was at one stage intended to become a 5 star hotel, designed by Richard Murphy architects, but no operator was found to run the hotel, this was then intended for conversion to apartments.[5] Richard Murphy architects were at that stage still however involved with the site and were considering designing affordable housing for the site.[6]
The site was sold by the Lothian University Hospitals Trust in 2001 to a joint venture between Bank of Scotland, Taylor Woodrow and Kilmartin Property Group for around GB£35 million , having previously been used for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.[7] Gladedale Capital bought out Taylor Woodrow’s 50 per cent stake in 2005, while Kilmartin Property Group went into administration in 2010.[7]
The development was sold by Lloyds Banking Group to property investor Moorfield in September 2013.[8][9] By 2018, Qmile was the sole owner.[4]
Suggestions by the International Council on Monuments and Sites that the impact of the development could cause Edinburgh to lose its World Heritage Site status[10] were vigorously denied by City of Edinburgh council.[11]
The commercial office building, Quartermile One, won the Scottish Regional Award for Best Commercial Space in the British Council for Offices Awards in 2008.[12]
References
- "Appendix 5: Case Studies Profile". The Scottish Government. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Quartermile Masterplan". Foster and Partners. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Quartermile lands year's biggest letting in Edinburgh". The Scotsman. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- Donald, Colin (23 May 2018). "Quartermile developers buy out owner funds as project reaches final stages". Scottish Business Insider. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- "A change of formula for Quartermile". The Scotsman. 22 November 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Wharton Square Housing at Quartermile (ex Royal Infirmary), Edinburgh". Richard Murphy Architects. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Edinburgh Quartermile scheme set for £170m boost". The Scotsman. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Edinburgh Quartermile scheme sold to Moorfield". The Scotsman. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Moorfield - Scotland, Moorfield Group buys Quartermile in Edinburgh". Propertymall.com. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "UN slams capital's Quartermile". The Scotsman. 4 March 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "UN not opposed to capital project". The Scotsman. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- Quartermile One (PDF) (1 ed.). Edinburgh. pp. 1–40. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quartermile. |