A 544-bed capsule hostel in four A-listed Georgian townhouses raises serious questions for a World Heritage city and for those tasked with preserving that status, writes Jocelyn Cunliffe
Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage New Town is internationally admired for a reason.
It is not simply a collection of historic buildings, but a carefully composed urban landscape where architecture, streetscape and residential life were designed to work together. The crescents and terraces of the late Georgian period were conceived as part of a wider civic vision that has shaped Edinburgh’s identity for more than two centuries.
Atholl Crescent, designed by Thomas Bonnar in the 1820s, forms part of that story. Which is why proposals to convert four Category A-listed townhouses, plus associated lane buildings at 14–17 Atholl Crescent into a 544-bed capsule-style hostel have caused such concern.
The scheme is currently awaiting a final decision from a Scottish Government Reporter after the developer chose to appeal prior to local decision makers reaching a decision.
Historic buildings inevitably change over time. The New Town itself has seen many adaptations. Houses have become offices, offices have become apartments and in some cases hotels. Sensitive reuse can help ensure buildings remain viable and well maintained.
But not every form of reuse is appropriate.
The Atholl Crescent scheme represents a level of intensification that raises serious questions about whether the character of these buildings, and of the wider crescent, can realistically be preserved.
The issue is not simply the physical alterations that may or may not take place. It is the scale and intensity of the proposed use. Georgian townhouses were designed as elegant domestic spaces with carefully balanced rooms, generous staircases and a clear hierarchy of interiors. These qualities depend on proportion and spatial clarity.
Cramming in hundreds of sleeping pods into those spaces inevitably alters that character, regardless of whether the pods themselves are technically removable.
In its formal response, Edinburgh World Heritage has suggested that concerns about that density of occupation are a “management issue” rather than something that should influence planning decisions.
It is difficult to accept that distinction. How a building is used matters just as much as how it is altered. Introducing hundreds of sleeping pods into Georgian principal rooms inevitably changes the character, experience and long-term conservation of those spaces.
This is particularly relevant within a World Heritage Site.
Edinburgh’s designation recognises the international significance of the Old and New Towns as one of the most remarkable historic urban landscapes in the world. That status enhances the city’s global reputation and places a responsibility on decision-makers to ensure that change strengthens rather than erodes its heritage.
That is why so many voices have raised concerns about this proposal. Notably, all four City Centre ward councillors, representing different political parties, have united in their opposition to the scheme. In a political climate where consensus is often elusive, such agreement is striking.
Their shared concern only reinforces how perplexing it is that Edinburgh World Heritage appears comfortable supporting the proposal.
As an organisation established to help safeguard the city’s historic environment, its views understandably carry significant weight. For that reason its position deserves careful reflection.
No one doubts the pressures facing a city like Edinburgh. Tourism, economic development and the need to keep historic buildings in use are all important considerations.
But these pressures cannot be allowed to erode the very qualities that make the city special.
If developments of this scale and intensity are considered acceptable within some of the most important Georgian buildings in the New Town, what precedent does that set for other streets and crescents?
Read more:
- 'Mindless' vandalism of UNESCO World Heritage Site condemned
- 250 years of spinning history comes to an end at New Lanark World Heritage Site
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe secures £500,000 Scottish Government funding lifeline
Edinburgh’s World Heritage status was not awarded simply because of its architecture but because of the remarkable coherence of the city as a whole.
Protecting that coherence requires vigilance and sometimes the willingness to pause and reconsider.
I hope that Edinburgh World Heritage will reflect on its outlier position on Atholl Crescent and engage constructively with organisations such as the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland and others who share a commitment to protecting the city’s historic fabric.
Open discussion would be a positive step in ensuring that decisions affecting Edinburgh’s heritage are made with the fullest possible understanding of their long-term implications.
Change is inevitable in a living city. But it must also be appropriate.
Jocelyn Cunliffe RIBA FRIAS FRSA is an architect and Chair of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS), a charity dedicated to protecting and promoting Scotland’s historic buildings and places.
