ALONG with homeowners, estate agents and quantity surveyors, Edinburgh’s continued housing boom is proving something of a winner for the Capital’s architecture firms.
As house prices continue to rise, it seems growing numbers of people would prefer to add to the value of their existing property by expanding and redeveloping, rather than take the plunge and buy a different home.
Moray Royles, of Edinburgh-base
d City Architecture Office (CiAO), says his firm is poised for expansion on the back of the buoyant property market.
"Commissions from homeowners probably make up the largest percentage of projects we get, particularly now, as property values in Edinburgh keep increasing," he says.
"People would rather extend their home than move, and we get a lot of clients on that basis."
But CiAO, founded in 1998 by Mr Royles, is not afraid to roll up its sleeves and get to work on larger-scale projects, such as office blocks and commercial property, restaurants and school buildings. "It takes its own random logic, but we’re very much a general practice and because of that we have a fairly broad experience of building types," says Mr Royles.
"The over-riding approach, whatever the project, is to explore the spatial use within the building’s context, along with the different materials that help you create the environment."
Along with Mr Royles, CiAO employs one other architect, Neil Beswick, and while the team admits being a smaller practice can mean opportunities to get involved with bigger projects are often rarer, they have the chance to explore different ways of approaching the commissions they do secure.
Mr Royles explains: "It’s all about finding applications to suit materials where they might not have been considered before.
"Often it’s for cost reasons that we have to look at new materials and how to apply them, but generally it requires extensive research from us to convince the local authority that these materials are suitable.
"That keeps us aware of what’s becoming available and helps to build a dialogue with manufacturers and suppliers."
Pasta Fresca, a new gourmet bistro on North Bridge, is one of the firm’s most recent completions, and it has also just finished the conversion of an old toilet block into an outside sitting area at a school in the village of Saline, in Fife.
"The ‘Sitooterie’ was funded by the Scottish Executive as part of a one-off grant to help improve children’s behaviour, and it came through a programme of workshops which asked pupils what they thought would be of most benefit," says Mr Royles.
As well as a sitting area, the Saline Sitooterie features a large periscope to let children view the area’s landscape and wildlife.
Meanwhile, at Pasta Fresca, the team - led by Mr Beswick as project architect - had to find a material that would allow a mezzanine floor to be built as thinly as possible to ensure there was enough room above, and below, to provide headroom for diners.
A mezzanine floor would normally be one foot deep, but through the clever use of materials, CiAO was able to make it four inches deep, yet just as sturdy as a conventional structure.
"In effect, we managed to double the amount of covers the client could get, and it made the job feasible," Mr Royles says.
"If we hadn’t been able to do that, the project might not have happened because the client couldn’t have justified spending all his budget on a new café if he could only get 16 seats in it. Now he can get 44 in there, so I guess we found a creative solution to a very technical problem."
The firm also won a competition to develop a master plan for the Ayr seafront, but South Ayrshire Council has taken the plans no further, and Mr Royles believes this is because the site covers a number of local authority boundaries, "so it gets kicked around and nothing happens, and it was a bit of a false dawn, unfortunately".
CiAO was also shortlisted for the Edinburgh Architectural Association Awards last year, and had two further projects selected for the 2002 Royal Scottish Academy annual exhibition at Glasgow’s McLellan Galleries.
"One of these, at St Andrews harbour, is suffering because of the conservation lobby," says Mr Royles.
"Strangely enough, Historic Scotland was very supportive, but it seems the local community don’t want anything to happen unless it involves a golf club."
While being a smaller firm can allow CiAO to experiment, Mr Royles says it does involve more legwork for the team than if they had more resources.
"If we were a lot larger and doing something on the scale of the new Scottish Parliament, we’d have a limitless budget and bring in enormous levels of resources," he says.
"But we have to do all this ourselves. It’s a bit like the early days of software programming, with guys clunking away in their garages and then expanding and refining. We’re at the coal face and working to push forward as much as we can."
Despite the pressures caused by tight budgets and the need to come up with ingenious solutions to problems, Mr Royles believes the struggle is worthwhile, "as the knowledge that builds up with each completion helps us see how future projects will be reacted to by planning or building control authorities".
Speaking of planning authorities, those in charge at the city council have a difficult task in maintaining the Capital’s historic landscape, while at the same time enabling new developments to take place.
Last month, plans by the Old Town Housing Association to build a modern block of flats on St Leonard’s Bank, a street described as a "hidden gem" by one resident, were withdrawn after planning officials recommended permission be refused.
While planners have come in for criticism from many quarters, Mr Royles believes the situation is getting better. "In more recent years, I’d say there’s been a far better dialogue with the planners, and they are hugely improving the level of consistency.
"I think the fact all applications can be seen online is very useful. Generally, we keep as good a dialogue with planners as we can, because ultimately they’re an important part of the whole design process, and this is constructive towards getting recommendations for approval."
While he admits CiAO has had a number of projects sent back to the drawing board by the planning department, Mr Royles says all to date have been resolved positively, "touch wood".
The firm was incorporated as a limited company just last year, and Mr Royles says the accounts are yet to be finalised.
Although he is unable to give a firm turnover, he points out: "We’re not driving around in Porsches and wearing Prada, but then again we’re not riding around on bicycles wearing hand-me-downs."
Mr Royles adds: "We have the space to grow in our current studio, which is set up to cope with greater numbers. It was a big decision to find premises of this size, but we always knew we wanted to grow.
"We work collaboratively with other architects and consultants, but our workload is increasing and we’d hope to expand."
City reveals its secretsTOMORROW is Doors Open Day, an annual event that sees the public invited to explore a wide variety of Edinburgh’s buildings whose interiors are normally kept out of sight.
Moray Royles is opening his City Architecture Office (CiAO) on Caledonian Place, as his firm is set to take part in the event for the first time.
He says: "Our studio was an old record shop, but it’s been ripped to shreds and redesigned with an extra floor. We’ve also put in an all-singing, all-dancing computer system."
There are a number of Doors Open Days taking place across Scotland. In Edinburgh the event is co-ordinated by the Cockburn Association.
Buildings open to the public include Edinburgh University’s Old College. Only a small part of the original design by Robert Adam was actually built, and the remainder was largely completed by William Playfair between 1817 and 1840 and the dome added in 1877.
But it is not just old buildings - along with CiAO’s modern office, Princes Exchange at Tollcross will be open to visitors.
This office block was developed by Teesland and designed by Percy Johnson Marshall & Partners in 2000. Occupants include Turcan Connell, McGrigor Donald and 3Com.
Other highlights include Maggie’s Centre at the Western General Hospital, the Sikh Temple on Sheriff Brae in Leith and the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge.
