SLATEFORD GREEN

Edinburgh, Scotland

1996-2000

Andrew Lee for Hackland + Dore

Slateford Green adapts the form of the traditional Edinburgh tenement to wrap a looped wall of 120 apartments around a landscaped court closed at one end by a kindergarten. The complex is green in many ways, not least in sheltering a mixed community that includes families, single and disabled people. It is also well served by buses and adjacent to a proposed commuter station. To minimize energy consumption the apartments are super-insulated with a material made from recycled newspapers and have conservatories that in winter collect solar heat during the day and are closed off at night by sliding insulated shutters. Free heating is provided as a by-product of a nearby distillery. The common stairwells, like the bathrooms and kitchens, are naturally ventilated using the stack effect. The building materials are low in embodied energy (except for the aluminum roof ) and extracted from sustainable or recycled sources with minimum waste, and can themselves be easily recycled. The external walls are constructed from materials that breathe, allowing moisture to escape. This both ensures longer life for the building fabric and more healthy conditions for the occupants. Allowance has been made for retrofitting with photovoltaic cells to power all external lighting and lighting of common areas inside. The extensive landscaping uses low-maintenance native species as much as possible and includes ponds surrounded with reed beds to purify rain water runoff from roofs and roads, before this is released into the local stream system. These ponds and reed beds also shelter wild life and form the focal features of the central communal garden. The upper court of the communal garden is paved, and like the gardens which edge it, is designed for use by the disabled who occupy these ground floor apartments. The lower court has a central play space within a grove of native trees. Residual space around the housing wall and the access road that rings it are communal parkland or private allotments. The development promises to be the frame of a vibrant community life. Immediately at hand are a wide variety of spaces and activities for adults and children, as well as chances to meet, and whether in private garden of public space people are visible to and so known to each other in the diverse roles of their daily lives. Shades of green: Low energy/high performance; replenishable sources; recycling; embodied energy; long life, loose fit; embedded in place; access and urban context; health and happiness; community and connection

[photo by John Reiach]