Observations

007N with the win! Our women's team did incredibly well to come away with the trophy at the Buccleuch Property Challenge 2023! The day was hot and challenging, but our teams rose to the occasion and completed various gruelling tasks across the Drumlanrig Estate, including bike rides, hill climbs, an assault course, swimming, and axe-throwing, to name just a few. Both 7N teams had a great time on the estate and we were grateful for the delicious BBQ in the afternoon. It was also nice to see so many familiar faces and meet some new people along the course. We would like to extend our congratulations to all of the other participants, as well as the @buccleuchpropertychallenge and @blueskyexperiences teams for putting on such a fantastic event and raising funds for a very worthy cause: @horsetime.org.uk We are already looking forward to returning in 2024!

This week we had the pleasure of shooting a recently completed project with our frequent collaborators @zac.and.zac It is always hugely satisfying and a great honour to work with professionals who are able to capture the best of our projects. We are also excited to see our many years of hard work come to fruition! We would love to tell you more about the project but this will have to wait until the final shots are ready for publication. In the meantime, please enjoy these behind-the-scenes photos from the day.

Introducing team 007N - a crack team of architects ready to tackle the Scottish wilderness! This Friday, we will be sending two teams to the 2023 Buccleuch Property Challenge, a team-building adventure race in the grounds of Drumlanrig Castle. Over the course of six hours, the teams will tackle a variety of challenges, including: cross-country running, mountain biking, orienteering, and secret surprise activities! Each year is different and we can’t wait to see what is waiting for us this time. All funds raised by the challenge will go to the charity @horsetime.org.uk , a wonderful organisation that harnesses the psychological and emotional benefits of working with horses when in recovery from mental health difficulties and trauma. If you would like to contribute to this worthwhile cause, please visit: https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/bpchallenge23 We’d like to wish our teams and everyone who is competing good luck and a good wind behind them! @buccleuchpropertychallenge

A big thank you to @ocean_vertical for making our Practice Annual Meeting 2023 such a fantastic day! Last week we returned to this beautiful East Lothian steading for our annual gathering, where we reviewed the past twelve months and looked to the future. Following a morning of lively discussion about the work that we do, and what is in the pipeline, the team took part in an afternoon of exciting activities: coasteering, axe-throwing, archery, and cycle-touring! As ever, the team at Hedderwick Hill Stables were welcoming, helpful, and they made sure that everything ran smoothly. They have created a special venue where it is easy to get comfortable, enjoy some time away from the city, and try something new! We’d also like to thank @barbarellabeets, @bostockbakery, and @winewednesdaysnorthberwick for the wonderful food and drink!

New milestone reached in the creation of a new, green neighbourhood in Edinburgh. 7N Architects has recently submitted a planning application for 256 sustainable homes at Ferry Road, Edinburgh. This project has been led with clear and progressive visioning from our clients at Artisan Real Estate and has benefitted from extensive consultation with City of Edinburgh Council. Designed around high quality green space, the development will provide a substantial net-biodiversity gain alongside flexible new commercial space that fronts onto Ferry Road, helping to establish Crewe Toll as a key area in Edinburgh’s future growth. All units will benefit from a large central communal garden, biodiverse green roofs, and a ‘wetland’ area to enhance local ecology. Low carbon technologies, such as individual air-source heat pumps within each home, will ensure that this project is fossil-fuel free and a benchmark for future large-scale housing developments within the city. This has been a great team effort by all of those involved and we look forward to taking this project forward. Visualisations by @daakostudio @artisan_real_estate @jll REInvest Asset Management Axiom Project Services Quattro Consult Ltd MRG New Acoustics Direct Ecology Transport Planning Ltd. OFR Streets UK

A gateway building for the regeneration of Salamander Street. We are delighted to announce that our Salamander St project has recently been granted planning permission. By optimising the potential of the site, the proposal helps to deliver new homes and contributes to the emerging, residential character of the area. Following the principles of NPF4, the proposals facilitate the re-use of brownfield land, enable biodiversity gain, support sustainable transport solutions, and promote compact urban growth and the creation of liveable places Arranged in a u-shaped form, the design reinstates the street-edges to Salamander St and Salamander Yards, while also presenting an open landscaped courtyard to the south. The development has been designed in anticipation of wider public real improvements along Salamander St, including the Leith Connections program for cycle ways and Copenhagen crossing at road junctions. Proposals include the creation of a ‘pocket park’ to the north east edge of the site, offering environmental improvements to the street end and creating much needed public space and planting to the road. Looking ahead to the implementation of City Plan 2030, the development will deliver 35% affordable housing.

A sensitive approach to brownfield urban sites. Comprising 46 new homes, including on-site affordable provision, the project will deliver a varied mix of one, two and three bed apartments on brownfield land and provide much needed housing in the city centre. All dwellings are designed with flexible family living in mind, secure cycle storage, electric car charging, city car club provision, and close proximity to public transport links, making it easier for residents to lead a sustainable lifestyle. Visualisation by 7N Architects. @s1developments @harleyhaddow @wardellarmstrong_llp @atelier_ten The Keenan Consultancy AOC Archaelogogy Group Geovia Kaya Consulting Donal Roger Associates Tay Ecology

A canalside community with a close connection to the city centre. Our project at Temple Park Crescent has been designed to repair a long-standing gap in the tenement streetscape of Merchiston. It is great to see construction coming along so well and we look forward to seeing completion by the end of the 2023. Photograph by 7N Architects. @s1developments @harleyhaddow @wardellarmstrong_llp @atelier_ten The Keenan Consultancy AOC Archaelogogy Group Geovia Kaya Consulting Donal Roger Associates Tay Ecology

A leading example of how to make the most of our existing buildings. Our project at the David Stow Building in Glasgow was awarded ‘Renovation of the Year’ at the Scottish Home Awards in June! We have been really honoured to be able to work with such a characterful building in Glasgow’s skyline and create something new, while respecting its rich heritage and the extensive parkland of its surroundings. This project has been a real labour of love as we peel back the layers of this building to reveal 64 stunning new apartments. It will be the jewel in the crown of Jordanhill Park Congratulations to the whole team, including: @calahomes @goodsonassociates @simpsonandbrown Hulley & Kirkwood

A pioneering low-carbon development and a new benchmark for Edinburgh. Scheduled for completion in late 2023, Rowanbank Gardens will create 126 high quality new residences in the west of Edinburgh, including 32 affordable homes. The project has recently been recognised for its low carbon design, having been nominated for ‘Development of the Year’ in the nationwide RESI Awards 2023 and ‘Apartment of the Year’ in the Scottish Home Awards 2023. Visualisation by @virtual_planit @rankinfraserlandscapearch @atelier_ten

We have made it to July, 2023 is well and truly flying by! Now is a great opportunity to reflect on the first half of 2023 and share news of our recent projects and accomplishments. Starting with Rowanbank Gardens, we have this bright summer’s view of our project with @crudenhomes and Artisan Real Estate. We are rapidly approaching the first sectional completion and the show apartment is now open! We’re really happy with how it is shaping-up and think it will be a great addition to Costorphine! Photograph by 7N Architects. @rankinfraserlandscapearch @atelier_ten

Our proposals for Inverlair Avenue are inspired by the three architectural types prevalent in the neighbourhood: tenements, villas, and terraces. The building types selected for this development reflect the rich tapestry of the local area. They will be used to create a variety of architectural forms that acknowledge the past typologies and materials that have become prevalent in the nearby residential streets. Each of these buildings adopt a ‘fabric-first’ approach by optimising their orientation, envelope, and the microclimate of the garden spaces. Additionally, the development will be heated using ground-source renewable energy. We are really pleased with this project and we look forward to taking it through the next stages. Construction is targeted for 2024. @calahomes @iceniprojects @dougallbaillie @oobe_landscape @carbonfutures Hawthorne Boyle Drawings by 7N Architects

How can higher-density development bridge between the industrial and the residential? The buildings are designed to mediate between the scale of the surrounding tenements, breaking down the large scale of the industrial development into high-density blocks that reconnect with the adjacent streets and lower scale housing. The surrounding space around the buildings create an opportunity for shared public realm, which will benefit the wider community through public realm improvements and ecological benefits. @calahomes @iceniprojects @dougallbaillie @oobe_landscape @carbonfutures Hawthorne Boyle Drawings by 7N Architects

Growing a garden oasis from a redundant industrial site. We are delighted to share with you one of our most recent housing projects, ‘The Foundry’ at Inverlair Avenue. This will transform a redundant industrial site in the south of Glasgow into a verdant landscape, where it will be easy to live a sustainable life. Submitted for planning in May 2023, this brownfield development will create 277 homes across five individual buildings, all set within a green garden landscape that will help rehabilitate this post-industrial site. Thanks to all of the team for reaching this milestone together. @calahomes @iceniprojects @dougallbaillie @oobe_landscape @carbonfutures Hawthorne Boyle Visualisations by @daakostudio

The places that architects and urban designers design have a significant impact on the wellbeing of the people who live in them and engage with them, both positive and negative. Doing this properly takes time, care and resources. The housing regeneration project at Fraser Avenue transformed an unloved 1950’s council estate in Inverkeithing, Fife, where residents faced many challenges with their environment and felt isolated and stigmatised. The regeneration proposals sought to combat these challenges by creating a new neighbourhood where every space had a clear, positive, purpose which gave each home a defined sense of ownership to give the residents a renewed sense of belonging within their community. The project incorporated extensive engagement with the existing tenants, not just by 7N during the planning stage, but by @kingdomhousingassociation and @fifecouncil throughout the whole process. The scope and nature of this engagement played a significant role in instilling this renewed and precious sense of community and belonging. A post-completion workshop, facilitated by @arcdessco documented feedback from residents to assess how they felt about their new neighbourhood. Statements such as “people are talking to their neighbours again for the first time in years”, “the children are playing in the streets again” and “I feel so much better, I’m off my medication” reveal in a very candid way the positive impact that the new environment has had on the residents’ wellbeing. The challenge is how you quantify it, beyond this anecdotal feedback, to make the case that the extra time and resources which go into doing this level of engagement, and working directly with an existing group of tenants in this way, justifies the additional level of funding needed to support it. “Investing in wellbeing” may sound intangible but we frequently find that it is what everyone values most, whatever their circumstances. The @arcdessco report on the project process and post-occupancy engagement workshop with residents can be found here: https://shorturl.at/cACY9 Drawings by @7n.architects Aerial by Ian Guthrie Street photo by @gordonburniston Model by @finch_and_fouracre

Over the next few weeks, we are going to show some of the different types of work that we undertake in the housing sector, ranging from sustainable single-family homes to multi-unit developments in a variety of approaches. Starting with our bespoke individual family conversion project in Spey Street Lane, our design transformed a disused garage by Leith Walk into a low carbon home. A raised courtyard at first floor level brings daylight and air into the heart of the house, whilst maintaining privacy for occupants and neighbours on a heavily constrained site. A double height living space with mezzanine is positioned at the rear of the property, allowing the bedrooms to be arranged over two storeys at the front. The building adopts fabric first principles to minimise energy consumption and is designed with a highly insulated timber structure and triple glazed windows. Heating, hot water, and power is provided through a combination of low carbon technologies, including solar panels, mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR), and an air source heat pump. Rainwater harvesting and low flow fittings minimise water consumption. This project was located in a conservation neighbourhood and with very particular constraints, which we helped guide the client through the planning process to achieve approval. Drawing & visulaisation by 7N Architects.

Haymarket Yards project has been shortlisted for the best project with planning approval in Scotland this year! 20 Haymarket Yards is a mixed-use office and hotel brownfield development within the evolving business district around Edinburgh’s Haymarket Station. The proposal is a benchmark project that responds to the shift in occupier demand towards sustainable workspaces that focus on the wellbeing of workers and that meet the requirements of evolving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies. Many thanks to our client, Stamford Property, and @scottishdesignawards - we look forward to the award ceremony in June! @edmondshipwayllp @atelier_ten @swecouk @optimisedenvironmentsltd @cbre @savills @orbit_agency Scott Hobbs Planning Woolgar Hunter Visualisation by 7N Architects.

Good mental health starts with looking out for each other. 7N Architects are proud Foundation Partners of the Architects Benevolent Society. This organisation does wonderful work to support those in the industry who may need support of any form during times of difficulty. If you are able to, we strongly encourage any contribution towards their efforts and to look out for events that they organise. The above image is from our fundraiser this morning as part of @archbensoc’s ‘Bake the World a Better Place’ - the team paused to sample some homemade bakes, enjoy a little bit of sunshine together in our garden, and raise money for a good cause! https://www.absnet.org.uk/