The first spades were put in the ground today to bring the historic former Granton Station back to life as a high-quality creative workspace at a cost of up to £4.75m.
The project will be part funded through the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and Town Centre Fund.
The derelict land in front of the building will also once again be used as a public square for community events and recreation to be enjoyed by residents and visitors.
The station site, due for completion by early 2022, is part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Granton Waterfront project, a key sustainable £1.3bn regeneration of this area, which will make a significant contribution to Edinburgh’s target to become a net zero carbon city by 2030.
Kier, appointed to carry out the work by the Council in March this year, has undergone health and safety training with local schools. They ran a poster competition and the best ones are being placed on the site hoarding. The Council has also been working with the Granton History:Hub to create a temporary exhibition on the hoarding detailing the history of the building and Granton Gasworks.
Cllr Cammy Day, Depute Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said:
I'm pleased to see work starting now as the wider Granton Waterfront project is really taking off. We’ve already got three affordable housing sites underway and the former gasholder is illuminated now as a beacon of light for the project for everyone visiting the area to see. This is shaping up to be one of Scotland’s leading sustainable new districts and being built at the Waterfront it really will be another fantastic place to live, work and visit in Edinburgh. We’re speaking to the local community every step of the way on the Granton Waterfront regeneration and we’ve just finished consulting on a new name for the new public square outside the former station, which we’ll be announcing shortly.
Cllr Adam McVey, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said:
It’s great to see work starting to bring this much loved Edwardian building back to life to serve the community it’s central to once again. The former Granton Station has a rich industrial heritage which we’re going to display on the site hoardings while work continues. The project will provide a number of jobs while construction is ongoing and the future new enterprise will generate valuable quality local employment opportunities for Edinburgh.
Phil McDowell, Regional Director at Kier Regional Building North & Scotland, said:
Granton station dates back to the Edwardian times, it's an important historical building for Edinburgh and we are proud to be renovating it into a modern work space that will once again effectively support the local community.
We will work collaboratively with Edinburgh Council and our local supply chain partners to deliver this important project which will support the wider transformation of Granton Waterfront.