Canaan Lane, Edinburgh

Our competition proposal for the site of a redundant toilet block on Canaan Lane, in Edinburgh’s City Centre aimed to extend the typology of the tenement around the corner, responding to its adjacent buildings in form and use with commercial units on the ground floor and six apartments across the upper floors.

In contrast to the usual sandstone cladded new builds in Edinburgh we set out to create a unique jewel which responds to the form and tones in the surrounding area. The design on the upper apartment levels plays with the traditional bay window geometry to allow light to enter into the living areas and provide glimpses onto the bustling shopping street below. The front bay windows are wrapped in a gold copper alloy which complements the neighbouring blonde sandstone which then turns the corner and is continued down the side gable with block, blonde sandstone, in-keeping with the neighbouring traditional villas and tenements.