Listed building consent has been granted for plans to change the inside of 1 Gayfield Square and alter windows and doors on its north elevation (pictured right; Ref. 13/02338/LBC).
A Mr Robert Howie wishes to change the early 20th-century B-listed shell from empty storage space to a restaurant.
Five neighbours objected on the grounds that bin uplifts, deliveries and talkative smokers would add to the disruption already suffered by residents on South Gayfield Lane (where the restaurant’s main entrance is proposed).
Some of them – perhaps feeling a problem shared would be a problem halved – suggested that a goods entrance on Gayfield Square itself would be better.
Planners said these points were irrelevant to the case, and did not agree with the one material objection that the proposal did not ‘maximise the potential’ of the historic building.
Earlier this month, the application for a certificate of lawfulness for the property’s use as a restaurant was withdrawn without explanation (Ref. 13/02337/CLP; Breaking news, 26.6.13).
We await developments, and further news on the identity and culinary aspirations of Mr Howie.
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The plans are by Adam Dudley Architects for Mark Theurer. Consent was originally granted five years ago, but expired in April (Ref. 08/00836/FUL).
The elevation facing Inverleith Terrace Lane – the only one likely to be seen by most locals on their way to the Rocheid Path – is not currently a thing of great beauty.
Transformed, it would become a rather discreet and mysterious combination of old stone and green glass with a small, covered, rooftop terrace at the leafy end closest to the camera in the photo above.
Behind the scenes, the proposed 2-bedroom property is a truncated triangle in shape, and narrows to such an extent at the Tanfield end that any future residents may need to think twice before eating Toblerone in the downstairs loo. Getting out may not be as easy as getting in.
Image: Creative Commons.
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