Post by Historic Docks on Jul 9, 2008 14:36:51 GMT
www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk/leith_westernharbour.htm
Robert Adam Architects - 16 Mar 2005 Leith Docks - Building PR:
Masterplan for Western Harbour, Leith, Edinburgh
Robert Adam Architects have developed a detailed masterplan for the future development of Western Harbour in Edinburgh. The site is a large trapezoidal land-fill area pointing northward into the Forth and adjacent to the historic fishing village of Newhaven. Whilst the harbour was previously Edinburgh’s main port, the extensive dock area is now largely redundant due to industrial decline and has become increasingly dislocated from the traditional city fabric. Emphasis has recently shifted towards regeneration, with the area reassessed as a site for new development.
Robert Adam Architects have designed the scheme according to the principles of Traditional Urbanism. A new approach to planning developed over the last 25 years, this technique recognises the value of traditional planning and empahsises the need in today’s architecture to marry what is still vital in local tradition with the best in our increasingly global civilisation.
The masterplan places emphasis on the creation of desirable places. The space is defined by interconnected character areas rather than detached, industrial scale structures which often relate poorly their surroundings and are difficult to adapt over the long term. Buildings groups within are of mixed scale and use, encouraging pedestrian street life throughout the whole day and ensuring a sense of welcome and safety. Urban spaces are similarly well defined and enclosed and are located within a varied network of easily negotiable streets and passageways. Importantly, all buildings are constructed in local materials and designed with reference to the local building character, avoiding the development looking and feeling as though it could be anywhere.
The design establishes a clear and positive urban vision for the future of Western Harbour, using traditional planning methods to meet our modern needs and aspirations. Whilst ensuring the reconnection of the site to the City of Edinburgh, the masterplan creates a place with an identity specific to the immediate locality with the potential to renew the urban life of the area.
Robert Adam Architects - 16 Mar 2005 Leith Docks - Building PR:
Masterplan for Western Harbour, Leith, Edinburgh
Robert Adam Architects have developed a detailed masterplan for the future development of Western Harbour in Edinburgh. The site is a large trapezoidal land-fill area pointing northward into the Forth and adjacent to the historic fishing village of Newhaven. Whilst the harbour was previously Edinburgh’s main port, the extensive dock area is now largely redundant due to industrial decline and has become increasingly dislocated from the traditional city fabric. Emphasis has recently shifted towards regeneration, with the area reassessed as a site for new development.
Robert Adam Architects have designed the scheme according to the principles of Traditional Urbanism. A new approach to planning developed over the last 25 years, this technique recognises the value of traditional planning and empahsises the need in today’s architecture to marry what is still vital in local tradition with the best in our increasingly global civilisation.
The masterplan places emphasis on the creation of desirable places. The space is defined by interconnected character areas rather than detached, industrial scale structures which often relate poorly their surroundings and are difficult to adapt over the long term. Buildings groups within are of mixed scale and use, encouraging pedestrian street life throughout the whole day and ensuring a sense of welcome and safety. Urban spaces are similarly well defined and enclosed and are located within a varied network of easily negotiable streets and passageways. Importantly, all buildings are constructed in local materials and designed with reference to the local building character, avoiding the development looking and feeling as though it could be anywhere.
The design establishes a clear and positive urban vision for the future of Western Harbour, using traditional planning methods to meet our modern needs and aspirations. Whilst ensuring the reconnection of the site to the City of Edinburgh, the masterplan creates a place with an identity specific to the immediate locality with the potential to renew the urban life of the area.