Planning Consent at Haymarket Yards
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Continuing our run of recent planning successes, we can share that our second workspace project at Haymarket Yards for Stamford Property Holdings Ltd has received approval from The City of Edinburgh Council. The east building delivers 6,285 sqm (GIA) of workspace at the key public transport hub of Haymarket. New active frontage will provide vibrancy and activity along one of the principal tram and cycle routes within the city.

Designed as a new kind of workspace to help occupiers meet ESG policy requirements for sustainability, wellbeing, and connectivity to public transport, this building supersedes our prior approval for a hotel on the same site and will allow Haymarket Yards to emerge as a contemporary workplace campus. The BREEAM Outstanding building will complement the previously consented adjacent office building and together they will provide over 28,500 sqm (GIA) of premium workspace, meeting one of Edinburgh’s key demands for future growth.

We now look forward to moving ahead to construction later this year.

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Making it easy to live sustainably Rowanbank Gardens’ architectural form re-establishes the street edge, using high-quality materials and robust detailing to create a strong civic presence. This perimeter backdrop frames a central landscaped courtyard, fostering a sense of community and tranquillity within the development. A variety of roof forms accentuate the residential character and respond thoughtfully to the site’s diverse surroundings. Central to the project’s vision of placemaking is a pragmatic and accessible approach to sustainable living. By prioritising passive design strategies, the development thoughtfully anticipates future lifestyles through considerations of how people will work, move, socialize, and manage energy in years to come. This is exemplified in the way the building responds to energy use, the encouragement of green transport means, the creation of social green spaces in an urban context, and low energy solutions. The project was one of the first large scale residential projects in Scotland to utilise internal Electric Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) within apartments. These individual ASHP’s provide individual control over energy use for residents, reducing heat density demand, extensive pipe runs, and the associated heat loss that is typically associated with centralized heating networks. The development achieves an average 50% reduction in energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to the Target Emission Rates set by the Scottish Technical Standards, a success that makes us enormously proud. Main Contractor: @crudenhomes Project management: Axiom Project Services Structural engineer: Quattro Consult M&E engineer: @atelier_ten Landscape Architect: @rankinfraserlandscapearch Drawings: @7n.architects Architects
How do we create sustainable communities? A desire to create a sense of community was the heart of our brief for Rowanbank Gardens from @artisan_real_estate. As a client, they recognised the importance of creating a place where people not just want to live, but can also make it feel truly their own. This approach aligned with 7N’s view that a development is most sustainable when the occupants to have an emotional attachment to their home. Emotive notions such as ‘a sense of place’ emerge strongest when social activities are actively encouraged and people are allowed to define their spaces, rather than be defined by them. The south-facing courtyard garden at Rowanbank Gardens has quickly become a hub for daily interactions, where residents share experiences and form connections. In a short time, we have witnessed the emergence of social groups and the blossoming of a vibrant local community. The project’s ‘tenure-blind’ design has further enhanced its quality, with private and affordable apartments finished to the same high standard. This inclusive approach has enhanced the reception of the development across a wide range of residents, from social housing, through mid-market, first-time buyers, families, and down-sizers. For us, this validates our approach to placing community at the heart of placemaking and the value that this brings to any development. Main Contractor: @crudenhomes Project management: Axiom Project Services Structural engineer: Quattro Consult M&E engineer: @atelier_ten Landscape Architect: @rankinfraserlandscapearch Photograph 1: @davidbarbour Site Plan: 7N Architects Photograph 3: @leoparedesphoto
Rowanbank Gardens - A new community centred on sustainable living Our Rowanbank Gardens project reached completion this summer, a significant achievement and one that we were delighted to celebrate with our client Artisan Real Estate. This brownfield project was designed with a comprehensive focus on environmental, economic, and social sustainability, and has garnered notable recognition, winning awards such as RICS ‘Scottish Residential Development of the Year’ and the Scottish Home Awards ‘Apartment Development of the Year.’ Rowanbank Gardens features 126 new mixed-tenure homes, including a high proportion of family accommodation, around a vibrant residents’ courtyard garden. This shared landscape serves as the natural heart of the community, complete with communal growing beds and fruit trees that have become key amenities for new residents. The homes incorporate an industry leading all-electric and fabric-first approach, paired with sustainable systems such as heat recovery to minimise energy use. As a result, Rowanbank Gardens achieves carbon dioxide emission rates well below current regulatory requirements. Seeing this pioneering low-carbon development come to life and set a new benchmark for Edinburgh has been immensely rewarding. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the project over the years, especially our client, @artisan_real_estate, and our design team. Main Contractor: @crudenhomes Project management: Axiom Project Services Structural engineer: Quattro Consult M&E engineer: @atelier_ten Landscape Architect: @rankinfraserlandscapearch Photograph 1: @leoparedesphoto Photographs 2 & 3: @davidbarbour
Our autumn newsletter is out! Check out our latest update for a window into some of the exciting things that have been keeping us busy and inspired. This edition: masterplans from Shetland to Seafield, an update on our transformative project at Fraser Avenue in Fife, and celebating new qualifications for our team members. See the link in our profile.
Newly qualified architects! We’re really pleased to start our week with the news that three of our team have recently completed their Part Three exams and are now fully qualified Architects. Please join us in congratulating Alex Angus, Magda Wloczka, and Gabriella Togni! Alex, a passionate advocate for civic design and sustainable construction, has been a valuable member of the 7N team since 2021. With previous experience in Copenhagen, she has made significant contributions to our workplace projects in recent years. Magda joined 7N in 2022, bringing a wealth of technical expertise to our team. Having previously worked in Birmingham, she completed her studies at the Mackintosh School of Architecture. Since joining 7N, Magda has been heavily involved in the delivery of several of our recent residential projects. Gabriella is particularly interested in the intersection between design, sustainability, and supporting more ethical and healthy ways of living. As chair of the Sustainability Working Group since joining the team in 2021, Gabriella has led our research into innovative sustainable strategies. We’re excited to see what the future holds for these talented architects and are proud to have them as part of the 7N team.
Rowanbank Gardens continues to make an impact with awards and has recently been nominated for the Chartered Institute of Housing ‘Scotland Housing Awards 2024’. A finalist in the ‘Excellence in regeneration and sustainability’ category, this nomination recognises the importance of the project in helping to revitalise communities with sustainable designs that make a real difference in people’s lives. We’re also pleased to share that we have received some wonderful completion shots from @davidbarbour and we’ll be publishing more of these in the coming weeks. With thanks to the project team: @artisan_real_estate Wheatley Homes East @rankinfraserlandscapearch @atelier_ten @crudenhomes Axiom Project Services Quattro Consult
“Fundamental human needs to engage with others have not changed greatly over the centuries. This understanding is at the heart of the development of 7N’s masterplan at West Town, creating a placemaking framework for a new 20 minute neighbourhood that future residents can make their own.” As part of the latest RIAS Quarterly publication on urban housing, 7N’s Lisa Blyth and Amy Drabble were invited to contribute with an article exploring the themes that influenced the design of our West Town project. The masterplan for the Drum Property Group, for 68 hectares of land on the western edge of the City of Edinburgh, will contribute 7,000 homes and associated mixed-uses to help address Edinburgh’s acute housing needs. In scale alone, West Town represents one of the most significant urban expansions of any Scottish city in decades and one of the largest urban developments currently in planning in the UK. Lisa and Amy describe in the article how our team’s experience and placemaking approach, enabled us to tackle a project of this scale in a manner that keeps people at the heart of the all decisions — a people first approach to create pleasant streets and spaces that facilitate walking and the spontaneous play and social interaction that comes with having a walkable neighbourhood. The result is a place where a parent would feel comfortable letting their 7-year-old walk, wheel or cycle to school. We’d like to thank the RIAS Quarterly editorial team for including this feature in their publication and we hope you enjoy reading it. @riasmembership
What does it mean to be part of our team? The collaborative culture of 7N is the cornerstone of our success. The respect and trust with which we treat each other fosters an environment where all of our team can thrive creatively. This allows us to deliver the complex and innovative projects that have become integral to 7N’s reputation and to the best of our shared abilities. Last Friday we gathered for our first Practice Annual Meeting since 7N’s transition into an employee-owned trust. This was a valuable opportunity to step back from our desks, celebrate our achievements, and to reaffirm that we are striving to meet the ambitions of our EOT Purpose Statement. It led to a lively day, full of fruitful discussion and stimulating workshops about how our new structure can help us achieve our ambitions for the coming year and beyond. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the team for contributing whole-heartedly to the conversations and for helping to shape the direction of 7N. Thanks also must go to some of our favourite local suppliers for keeping us fuelled throughout the day: Daneli’s Deli, @twelvetriangles, @civerinos_official, and @joelato_gelato
7N’s masterplan to transform Seafield approved by City of Edinburgh Council for further consultation. Councillors this week approved the next stage of our masterplan development, with further consultation to take place in the coming weeks. Look out for more information on the plans to transform this north-east area of Edinburgh into a new climate resilient coastal neighbourhood. Visualisation by @daakostudio
Women in Property lunch and learn to be hosted at 7N’s offices on Wednesday 18th September. A quick reminder that we will be hosting Gemma Wood of @wood_wealth_planning in our offices next Wednesday on behalf of @womeninproperty. Tickets are now fully booked and so we look forward to seeing many of you on the 18th.
7N partners with many organisations that are driven with similar ambitions to the purpose statement of our Employee Owned Trust. One of these is @womeninproperty, a group that works to create opportunities, expand knowledge, and inspire change for women working in the property and construction industry. Next week, we will be hosting a WiP event led by Gemma Wood of @wood_wealth_planning, that seeks to encourage the financial empowerment of professional women. Cognisant of financial challenges that women face in the workplace, Gemma specialises in encouraging her clients to be comfortable in making positive financial plans with confidence, and with a particular focus on career-driven women. We look forward to hosting Gemma and hearing her thoughts on how we can all build our knowledge with financial affairs. The pictures above are taken from our last event in January, when we hosted Nicola Barclay on goal setting for a new year. We look forward to seeing many of you at the lunch and learn – details on how to book are posted on the Women in Property website.
A new coastal neighbourhood for Seafield in Edinburgh. A masterplan designed by 7N Architects to transform the north-east Edinburgh area of Seafield into a new climate resilient coastal neighbourhood, has been published by the @edinburgh_council. The proposals set out a vision where low-intensity commercial use of a section of Edinburgh’s coastline is transformed into a residential-led and mixed-use neighbourhood of up to 2,700 mixed-tenure homes. By strengthening connections to nearby communities of Leith, Portobello, and Craigentinny, the project aims to create a more integrated and sustainable seafront destination. At the heart of the new neighbourhood is the reinvigorated promenade alongside a new seafront park. These civic spaces form integral parts of the masterplan’s climate change resilience strategy, embedded throughout all aspects of the proposals and specifically designed to address the challenge of rising sea levels. The masterplan team was led by 7N Architects in collaboration with @rankinfraserlandscapearch, @maxfordhamllp, @cundall_global and Nick Wright Planning, and follows extensive engagement with the local community and representative groups. It is being presented to the Planning Committee next week for the approval of further stages of consultation. Visualisation by @daakostudio
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