Cables Wynd House & Linksview House Retrofit, Edinburgh
- Two A-listed tower blocks from the 1960’s are to be retrofitted including the external spaces to both buildings. Alongside the wider retrofit upgrade proposals, the blocks will be upgraded and improved to a ‘new build’ standard which will encompass a variety of components to be upgraded/ replaced including roofs, foyer areas, entrances to the building, fire doors and screens, stairwells, communal landings, removal of bin chutes etc. Alongside these upgrades, a full place-making approach to improve the surrounding environment outside the blocks will be undertaken.
Built in the 1960s and home to 310 households, these Category A listed buildings were originally designed by Alison Hutchison & Partners as part of a the Citadel & Central Leith Redevelopment Area. Pioneering in their use of materials and environmental technologies such as electric underfloor heating, they now require significant investment to meet 21st-century standards by undergoing a full energy retrofit following a whole house/ block retrofit approach to meet EESSH2 as a minimum.
The landscape and place-making upgrade around both tower blocks provides accessible access to existing and new ground floor flats, communal residents entrances and community spaces, new external lighting and seating, new waste management access, car parking re-design, play & activity areas and planting improvements.
- Category
- Community & Placemaking, Education & Play, History & Heritage, Housing & Residential
- Client
- The City of Edinburgh
- Status
- RIBA Stage 4
- Project Team
- Collective Architecture, Collective Energy, Collective Conservation, Atkins Réalis, Narro Associates, Blackwood Partnership, Atelier Ten, RMP
- Visuals
- Collective Architecture (Image 1), Touch3D (Image 2,3,6,7,10,11)
- Awards
- Finalist - Scottish Design Awards 2026, Category 'Future Building or Project'; Shortlisted - 2025 Pineapple Award Category 'Community Engagement: Homes'