A DEVELOPER behind controversial plans to turn a disused A listed architectural masterpiece in the Scottish capital into a hotel has said the site could become "the beating heart of this part of town".
David Orr of the Urbanist Group, who brought Harvey Nicholls to Edinburgh and was the driving force behind the Mint Hotel Group, said the £55 million revamp of the old Royal High School on Calton Hill would open up the crumbling building to the wider community as well as guests.
The Edinburgh-born chairman of London-based firm is, along with partner Duddingston House Properties, this week holding a two-day public exhibition of potential plans before finalising proposals to go to Edinburgh City Council.
The joint developers want to turn Thomas Hamilton's neoclassical building into a six-star hotel and have lined up market leaders to run the premises, which would create 680 jobs and generate around £27 million for the economy each year.
However heritage experts including Historic Scotland, the Architectural Society of Scotland and the Cockburn Association have raised concerns over aspects including the addition of windows and some planned buildings on the site around Hamilton's centrepiece.
Mr Orr said he intends the hotel to be used by the community as well as clientele and there would be spaces specifically for outside use and in particular as a vehicle for arts projects.
He said changes to the buildings surrounding the school including the demolition of a jail and the building of St Andrew's House meant the architect's own original concept had changed over the years.
He said: "We think it is going back to the original vision of the design.
"There is recognition that some of the buildings that have been put up later have had an effect.
"It will be something that will give international opportunities and I think it will be good for the country."
He said as a hotel its doors would be open to the public 24 hours a day.
"It is designed to be populated."
Susan Denyer, an adviser to Unesco, raised concerns over the wider cultural value of the project while Edinburgh conservation watchdog the Cockburn Association said that "an alternative use which is compatible with this unique A listed building within Edinburgh's World Heritage Site should be brought forward".
More than 300 attended a public meeting held by the AHSS in Edinburgh addressed by heritage experts.
The site is being leased to the developers by the city council, which it is thought would have to a significant amount to keep the structure from deteriorating further.
The proposals for the former boys' school, which opened in 1829 but has been unused since 1968 when the school was relocated, are still being formed.
Mr Orr added: "We want to ensure the public has every chance to comment on our proposals to sensitively restore Hamilton's masterpiece."
More than half of the 580 visitors to an exhibition at the site completed a feedback questionnaire which revealed that 79 per cent of them were generally in favour of the redevelopment proposals, with over 75 per cent agreeing that a world-class hotel would be an appropriate use for the well-known Edinburgh landmark.
The exhibition is being held at the school on Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article