Plans submitted to overhaul mould-riddled Edinburgh housing

A development company has lodged a detailed planning application to retrofit two council housing blocks in the Scottish capital city.  

Stallan-Brand, has plans to transform two mould and damp-riddled housing blocks that were constructed in the 1960s. The organisation are backed by the City of Edinburgh Council and the scheme is set to give a ‘whole building retrofit’ to the 11-storey concrete-framed Oxcars Court and Inchmickery Court blocks as part of the wider revamp of the Muirhouse Estate.

Stated to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to improve the lives of more than 150 families that currently live in the properties and eliminate fuel poverty ‘by bringing their homes up to, and beyond, current standards’.

Following this, since the tragic death of Awaab Ishak at the end of last year, it is deemed law that landlords cannot leave tenants in damp and mouldy homes.

According to the practice’s design and access statement, each 9,015m² building ‘was constructed with a complicated exoskeleton structure, and without insulation’ and the ‘exposed concrete beams and columns create direct cold bridges which exacerbate mould and damp issues within the properties’.

Stallan-Brand added that, combined with a shallow plan depth and very high surface-to-volume ratio, the buildings had an ‘extremely poor heat loss form factor’.

It described the structures, which feature maisonettes in the centre and flats on each ‘bookend’ as an ‘extremely complex building typology’. It said the project was made more difficult by the open access decks, the exposed concrete exoskleton which ‘sits proud’ of the external walls, the architectural detailing with the ‘high number of complicated junctions’ and the ‘sheer scale’ of the buildings.

It is understood further applications will follow to cover the masterplan and landscape proposals for the remaining 3.5ha plot.

Subject to approval, work is expected to start on overhauling Oxcars Court and Inchmickery Court in January 2024.

Image: Peter Cordes