Recently, Edinburgh Live asked its Facebook followers to nominate ‘eyesore’ buildings that they would most like to see demolished in the capital, and hundreds of people replied, though as one of them hasn’t even been built yet, Edinburgh Live is not entirely sure how that will work.
image: By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21191703
Edinburgh Live writes:
Many of the replies were a bit cheeky – with Hearts fans suggesting demolishing Easter Road, and Hibs fans suggesting Tynecastle. But mixed in with the jokes were some more serious suggestions about buildings that local residents think let Edinburgh city centre down and are a bit of a blot on our otherwise beautiful landscape. Unsurprisingly, quite a few of these are rather unlovely 1960s office blocks and towers, or severe, concrete ‘brutalist’ structures. The Scottish Parliament building also continues to divide public opinion, with some people saying that – politics aside – they felt it just didn’t fit in with its surroundings. Here are five buildings that Edinburgh residents would like to take a wrecking ball to:
- Citadel Court and Persevere Court, Leith
These former council flats in Leith have an unusual blue and yellow colour scheme, and the people who live there might be a bit annoyed if their homes were demolished. Still, one commenter singled them out for destruction, saying that ‘they flats in Leith that’s made out of metal scrap and different colours’ deserved to be knocked down. The high rise flats were refurbished at around 1989/1990 and the grey concrete sides of the buildings were covered with metal painted blue and yellow to protect the flats from damp and prevent heat escaping.
- Argyle House, West Port
A few people singled this looming, brutalist edifice out for demolition. These former government offices were built in 1968 in an otherwise historic and central part of Edinburgh, blocking out quite an iconic view of Edinburgh Castle. One person suggested it be bulldozed and replaced with a nice park. Another reader described it as a ‘monstrosity’, saying: ‘This would be the first building in the whole of Edinburgh to go if it was up to me. It’s embarrassing.’
- David Hume and Appleton Towers
Edinburgh University’s two tower blocks also got a bit of stick in the comments. Unfortunately for its haters, David Hume Tower – built in 1963 – is actually a category A listed building, regarded as one of the key examples of Scottish Modernist architecture and was designed by Sir Robert Matthew, one of the most important British architects of the 20th century. Appleton Tower, on the other hand, has no such protection. Early in 2005, a student newspaper launched a campaign to nominate it for the Channel Four series Demolition, about the ‘worst buildings in Britain’. Sadly, it didn’t make the final 12.
- The new St James Quarter hotel
This one is a bit harsh: a few people nominated this upcoming building, which hasn’t even been built yet. The hotel is set to form the centrepiece of the new St James Quarter development, which is set to replace the carbuncle-like St James Centre. The design is supposed to resemble an unfurling ribbon, or possibly a peeled orange. However quite a lot of people say it looks a bit more like a poo emoji. Maybe we should at least give it a chance to be built before we knock it down, though?
- The Scottish Parliament
Quite a few people nominated the Parliament. Since it was first built, its modern style has upset quite a few people who prefer more traditional-looking government buildings. One commenter said: ‘the Parliament building… nothing political against having a Scottish Parliament but the building itself is tasteless and ugly, opposite Holyrood Palace it looks like the ruins of a Soviet fallout shelter with bits of rotten wood bolted to the outside.’ Quite extreme.
Now, just to be clear, we definitely don’t advocate the demolition of social housing, unbuilt hotels or the main seat of Scottish government, however we certainly live in a city where people have a lot of opinions about architecture. What do you think of these buildings? Are they genuine eyesores, or simply misunderstood gems? Let us know in the comments!
