Edinburgh retirement village plan: design and retrofit notes for project teams
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Edinburgh’s City of Edinburgh Council has given ‘minded to approve’ consent for Vivere Extra Care Group’s £25m, 2.2-acre retirement village at the former Lansdowne House / Lower School Campus site on Coltbridge Terrace, delivering 48 extra care homes with communal lounges, parking and gardens. The scheme will incorporate what is described as Scotland’s first Zero Carbon 5G heat network on the brownfield plot, alongside refurbishment of the 1875, TB McFadzen-designed, listed Victorian villa, lodge and stables. New-build elements will replace later additions and are being designed to match the original Victorian character.
Technical Brief
- Zero Carbon 5G heat network will be installed on the former Lower School Campus brownfield plot.
- Network design must integrate with retained listed fabric while serving new-build extra care units.
- All later school-era structures are to be demolished and replaced with residential blocks sympathetic to Victorian character.
- Heritage constraints will drive façade treatments, rooflines and materials selection for the replacement buildings.
- Brownfield status implies potential legacy services, foundations and made ground requiring intrusive investigation before demolition.
- Alignment with Scottish Government healthy ageing policy suggests emphasis on accessible layouts and integrated care facilities.
Our Take
The City of Edinburgh Council also appears in our coverage for a £21.7m retrofit of Craigmillar Court and Peffermill Court, signalling that the authority is pairing new-build extra care schemes like the Lansdowne House site with deep refurbishment of existing high-rise stock.
Vivere Extra Care Group’s plan for four Edinburgh developments over five years suggests a pipeline approach where design, planning and procurement lessons from the Lansdowne House site can be standardised, potentially shortening pre-construction phases on subsequent schemes in the city.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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