Capital city has its share of carbuncles

WITH its striking wedge shape and mock copper oxide panels could Arc House at Abbeyhill be the ugliest building in Edinburgh?

A straw poll has put the flats at the top of the list, ahead even of the despised St James' House and Argyle House - which may be a surprising choice given the city's wealth of building blunders.

Indeed while the Capital is sold around the world on images of historic buildings such as the Castle and Holyrood Palace, when tourists get here they can often find themselves staring at some of the city's rather less celebrated, usually concrete, structures.

As for the people who have to live and work in them, it is not hard to understand their desire for a swift and explosive destruction.

It is this knock-on effect that poorly designed buildings have on the people who use them that has prompted a new study to find examples of the worst designed buildings in the UK. Launched by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) it's part of a campaign to make the Government establish minimum standards of design.

In an on-line survey for CABE there has so far been only one Edinburgh suggestion - the much-maligned Scottish Parliament building has been put forward as the UK's worst designed building by three people - none of them actually from Edinburgh.

The city's planning leader Trevor Davies says it's not just ugliness that proves bad design, but buildings which are "inflexible" in their purpose - with Edinburgh's Georgian tenements showing exactly how flexible a building could be if properly thought out.

"The tenements have been houses, flats, offices, businesses, college buildings and in some cases are now back to being houses again, and that has been possible because of their design," he says.

He says the council was working to ensure future designs did not make the mistakes of the past.

Edinburgh-based Architecture and Design Scotland is working alongside CABE to try to encourage people to come forward with ideas on bad design, and its chief executive Sebastian Tombs says: "The more people that can give us their views on what makes a bad design, on anything from buildings to public parks and pavements, the better, because getting it right is so important for the way we live."

ARC HOUSE

Martin O'Donnell, 38, a Scottish Parliament worker from Leith says: "The worst new building is the flats put up on London Road [The Arc] which look like they've been put together using sheets of corrugated iron.

"A lot of the poor buildings in the city are the late 60s, early 70s concrete blocks, and the St James Centre offices have to be among the worst. They stick out like a sore thumb and it is such a prominent part of Edinburgh that it just seems even worse.

Helen Watson, 32, education officer with the National Galleries from Abbeyhill agrees: "The turquoise flats on London Road [The Arc] are awful to look at and really spoil views of the Castle for people in that area. They are horrible.

"I would like to say the new council offices are bad too, but they aren't finished yet."

Chris Walton, 32, university researcher, Abbeyhill: "It is a horrible building. What was there before was just a patch of scrubland and I really though any building would be an improvement, but what they have put up is terrible."

ST JAMES HOUSE

This 1960s concrete megastructure and former Scottish Office building, once described as "architectural vandalism" is generally seen as the city's ugliest building. City planning chief Trevor Davies says: "The St James House offices for me would be the best example of a badly designed building in Edinburgh, as it is an eyesore, it has been empty for ten years and it is riddled with asbestos, so it is not exactly doing what it was designed for."

Dean Ronaldson, 46, an office worker from Leith adds: "The St James Centre building is a monstrosity, and I think the only way you could do anything about it would be to flatten it."

ARGYLE HOUSE

A soulless grey office building on Lady Lawson Street, it is often held up as a classic example of bad design in Edinburgh.

Chris Summerfield, 29, Albion Terrace, an intranet manager in Argyle House: "It is a blot on the landscape. It is too hot in the summertime, the windows leak and the ceilings are incredibly low

."

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

One of the most divisive buildings in Edinburgh, if not Scotland, there is no question you either love it or hate it.

Scott Sneddon, 34, showroom manager, Gilmerton: "I do not like it at all, and I don't think many people in Scotland do.

"One of the main problems with it is that the design is completely out of character with the area, and to have it sitting next to something as beautiful as Arthur's Seat just highlights how awful it looks."

Katie Welsh, 23, Canongate, assistant coffee shop manager: "It's a horrible building, and it stands out so badly because it is next to Holyrood and the park.

"It's like so many modern buildings because the design hasn't taken into consideration the type of building it has to sit alongside."

PRINCES MALL

A shopping hub on Princes Street it may be, but that doesn't mean that everyone likes it.

Twenty-six-year-old Eileen Budd, a personal assistant from Leith, says: "It's like a little hobbit hole, and because it is in such a prime site you would expect there to be something much more lively."

Judith Litjens, 26, researcher, Newington: "Princes Mall is not very creative in its design, and I suppose the best thing you could say about it would be that it is underground and so generally doesn't interfere with views of the Old Town."

WAVERLEY STATION

The A-listed landmark Victorian station is the first thing many tourists see when they come to the Capital, and many people are less than impressed at the way it looks.

A £150 million revamp is under way to improve capacity, but for some people it is the design that is the problem.

Linda McClelland, an education officer at the National Galleries, from Bruntsfield, said: "I would say it is quite a soulless building and because it is so important to the city there should be something more attractive there. It is the high ceilings and the marble I think."

Andre Bartok, 43, staff nurse at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, from Waverley Park: "It's not a great design, and it can be quite dreary. I know it is an A-listed building, which would make it very difficult to change the way it looks, but since there are problems with capacity that they are working to improve they could perhaps look at doing more with the design."

DUMBIEDYKES FLATS

Graeme Clark, 40, a civil engineer from Shandon says: "Just about any 60s building using reinforced concrete would be up there, because as a material it does not age well, and the flats at Dumbiedykes and Sighthill would be good examples of that. Buildings like the Balmoral Hotel look as good today as they did when they were built, yet concrete tower blocks from 40 years ago are ready to be knocked down."

APPLETON TOWER

Edinburgh University's grey, faceless Appleton Tower, built in the 1960s on George Square, has long been seen as one of the worst buildings in the city, and last year was the focus of a campaign to see it demolished.

Despite a multi-million pound refurbishment of the interior, the exterior remains the same.

Moira Tasker, director of the city heritage group the Cockburn Association, says her idea of good design is a building that is able to fit in with its surroundings.

"The Association has for a long time been of the opinion that Appleton Tower is the city's worst designed building and I really believe it is among the worst buildings in the UK.

"It sticks out horribly on the Edinburgh skyline, which is one of the city's most important assets. It is not in keeping with any of the buildings around it and as far as we are aware it is not fit for purpose, even though the university has spent millions refurbishing it.

"The best designed buildings are the ones that can fit in with their surroundings without dominating them or looking out of place, and other examples of bad design in the Capital would certainly be the St James House office building and the Jury's Inn Hotel on Jeffrey Street, which is completely out of scale with everything around it."

• Anyone wanting to suggest an example of bad design within Edinburgh or the UK to CABE should e-mail badde [e-mail]

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