Scotland’s new intergenerational facility planned for Edinburgh’s Powderhall

A Passivhaus-standard building which will combine a nursery and accessible council homes designed for older people is the subject of a new planning application submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council.

Taken forward by Collective Architecture on behalf of the local authority, the proposal will see 27 homes located above a new Early Learning and Childcare Centre with places for 128 children situated at the council’s Powderhall regeneration project.

The intergenerational facility will be one of the first of its kind in Scotland and will offer health and wellbeing benefits for the older residents and new learning and social opportunities for children attending the nursery.

It will also be one of the first Passivhaus-standard buildings built by the council. All the properties will be fully wheelchair-adapted, accessible via two lifts and will have storage for mobility scooters and bikes.

The new Early Learning and Childcare Centre, which will be managed by Broughton Primary School, will allow for the existing nursery provision to relocate to the new centre. This will provide more childcare places for the local community and open up more space for the primary school. It will also have a multi-purpose room, which will be available for public use via the school lets system.

The development also proposes to create a new civic space as an entrance to Powderhall and make improvements to St Mark’s Path, together with a new outdoor educational space for Broughton Primary School, again available for community use via school lets.

Subject to planning approval the council hopes to start on site with the building and associated works this summer.

Councillor Kate Campbell, convenor for housing, homelessness and fair work, said: “The community have absolutely shaped the development plans for this site, so I’d like to thank everyone who gave up their time to share their thoughts with us. The plans are better because of their contributions and will have community facilities that work for local people.

“These new homes will be accessible and energy efficient. They will all be fully wheelchair adapted and built to the internationally recognised Passivhaus-standard, with renewable power generation on site. So they are both contributing to our Net Zero Carbon by 2030 target and our commitment to building 20,000 affordable homes by 2027.

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