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Project name: Edinburgh New Town Apartment

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Date completed: June 2019

Architect – Bergmark Architects

Interior Designer – Barclay Interiors Ltd

Construction Company – DCM Construction

The client wanted to create a modern and functional home without compromising the property’s heritage. The property had been empty for three years, having been badly developed in the 1960s and, the interior hadn’t been touched for over 40 years.

The client wanted to restore the few original features remaining, which extended to stone flooring, sash windows, and an internal staircase. They wanted a space that fulfilled the needs of their lifestyle; they also needed the apartment to work for modern, 21^st Century living. Above all, they wanted to introduce colour and texture to make use of some of their existing vintage furniture. They wanted their eclectic taste to be represented, using pieces from their travels.

One key aspect of the project was to design a way of making the area of the potentially large hallway into a more practical and functional use of space, as well as a beautiful area to be enjoyed rather than a corridor to carry you from A to B.

The hallway had what looked like the beginning of a staircase but only 4 steps were visible before it hit a wall.  It was therefore a great discovery to learn that, by removing the wall, the few visible steps were in fact revealed to be a full winding staircase reaching to the ceiling. This was incorporated the ‘staircase to nowhere’ as a fully integrated and functioning part of the design.

By redesigning the potentially limiting hallways into a series of both closed and open-plan spaces, it gave this apartment an expansive feel, transforming it from dark and dingy to open and airy. This transformation was fundamental to the project really working.

The main focus of this renovation was to create a warm and inviting home for a busy client.  This renovation ensured the apartment, which had received little attention over the last 40 years, no longer remained damp, dilapidated and cold.

The property is a Grade A listed property so several specialist skills we used to assist with the renovation of its original features. The original stone floors were in a terrible condition, they were carefully restored for the next 200 years. It was a similar story with the wooden flooring, whilst the planks were from a variety of eras, the cracks, cuts and infills were seamlessly renovated by expert carpenters.