(Image: PA)
In a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh's West End, the men who hold the fate of Summerhall in their hands are hard at work.
Property developer Dr Ali Afshar and award-winning architect Tony Kettle have joined forces to craft an ambitious vision for the arts and culture hub two miles to the south-east.
The pair warmly greet me as I am led into a first floor boardroom and take a seat next to a porcelain tea set and a coffee server.
Dr Afshar, the managing director of AMA (New Town) Limited, has been in the business for more than 40 years.
“Our forte is dealing with difficult sites and trying to make them fit for purpose,” he says, taking a sip of tea.
Dr Ali Afshar, managing director of AMA Limited. (Image: Supplied)
Mr Kettle, tasked with drawing up the plans for the complex's next iteration, is similarly well-experienced, having designed structures ranging from the Falkirk Wheel to the Lakhta Centre, Europe’s tallest skyscraper.
I ask Dr Afshar what attracted his firm to Summerhall.
“The site was for sale in 2011, and we bid for it at that time,” he says. “We didn't get it.”
So, when Summerhall came back on the market 13 years later, he jumped at the chance to acquire the venue.
“Looking at the fact that it was an art centre … and didn't in a way succeed because it didn't make any money to repair the fabric of the building ... I think the important thing for us, why we wanted to get involved, is the challenges that it has.
Dr Afshar makes two key commitments, doubtless well-rehearsed following a lengthy public consultation meeting last week.
“First of all, we're wanting art on site to survive,” he says.
“And secondly, we're not putting residential on site. This site was a university facility and it's been run for the last 15 years as a commercial venture. So it will stay like that.”
I turn to Mr Kettle, sitting across the table from me.
He holds a stack of blueprints outlining the four options proposed for the complex.
“Some of the buildings are coming up to the end of their life, you might say, in some regards,” he explains.
“Others can continue with maintenance.
“I think there's a misconception that everything will be fine if we just leave it alone and it will continue on, [but] that's not a good place to be with the ceiling falling down and other issues.”
He points to a drawing, in which various buildings are marked in beige, blue, and red.
“The options all are similar in the sense that we look at these two blocks, B and C, in red and say that those buildings are of lesser quality and have structural issues or fabric issues.
“And if we were to take these away, it might create space for new development that might give the capital to actually repair the historical buildings of real value.”
The buildings in red have serious fabric issues, Dr Afshar and Mr Kettle say. (Image: AMA Summerhall Consultation)
Mr Kettle is referring to the so-called “cranked wing”, an oddly-shaped extension of the original building, and the 1970s-era building on the other side of the complex along Summerhall Square.
Dr Afshar adds: “One of the important things is that [Block C] was built in the 1930s with poor material and very experimental construction methods. So it is a difficult one.
“And [Block B], built in the 1970s, has very poor construction and experimental panels, and it's all rusting.”
When people think of Summerhall, they think of the frontage, I say.
“That will remain intact and be improved,” says Mr Kettle. “At some point plastic windows were put into it, when it should have metal windows. It should be properly insulated.
“And you've got Block D, the tower on the corner.
“It is, I would say, a negative landmark at the moment, and it's covered in asbestos. It has reinforcement coming out of the cladding panels.
“We're thinking about ways of opening up the facade in a very sympathetic way so that it's in character with that kind of brutalist origin.”
He continues.
“And then the pub, it's the little beating heart inside the courtyard. We want the courtyard to be an exciting and year-round venue, not just at festival time.
“We've got the Anatomy Theatre, which is a special little space that we want to enhance and keep.
“And then when you look at the old stables, they could be a lovely new space that could have maker spaces in it.”
Architect Tony Kettle. (Image: Supplied)
But what about plans to build a hotel on site?
“We've been working on this for 19 months and an awful lot of hard work has been done,” says Dr Afshar.
“But at this stage we're not prescribing what goes where and what uses.
“What we are saying is in order to pay for the art facility, you need to generate money from somewhere else. And then hopefully, if you put the right uses into what you produce, that will help to make this a place where people visit, stay, and look at art.
“We're sitting in the middle of one of the best universities in the UK,” he adds.
“People coming in for conferences and foreign students and visiting lecturers might stay in the facility.
“So integration of this facility with the art [centre] will be very useful for the city. That's why at the moment, we're not dictating what goes where.”
The development’s three themes are ‘live, work and play’, Mr Kettle explains.
“You've got a strong community there already in terms of the arts. You've got the local community who use it for supported things. That has to remain and continue and flourish.
“But we also want to bring in an international community of people who might want to stay on site in a hotel and actually book it because it's right beside this art centre.”
Dr Afshar tells me that he does not want to use the site primarily for residential purposes.
“One of the options is to have a lot of residential properties,” he says. “We weren't saying we want to do that.
“The option four was a late addition and it only came about because we've had considerable discussions with the city and the council and the planning department.”
Mr Kettle adds: “You've got people who are making things on site, and we want them to continue to do that.
“We're trying to get a mix and that mix might include having workshops down here — he points to the blueprint as I take a sip of my tea, now cold — “and maybe maker spaces in here or in the arts element itself.
“You've got that vibrancy and then you need to find the money to repair all of this.”
Option 1 - one of the proposals for the future of Summerhall. (Image: AMA)
“There has to be financial value, otherwise you can't fund the place, you can't make it work,” Mr Afshar says.
“If you're doing any development, unless there is certainty that it's going to not go bust during construction, you've got to make profit. Otherwise, your financial institutions won't back you.”
Mr Kettle suggests that the rebuilt areas of the complex could also be used for ‘collective living’, a phrase I am not familiar with.
He explains: “If you go to London or Dubai or New York, you've got people who are turning off their phones.
“They want a small apartment, and they want a social space at ground floor level that's got kitchens you can rent, a library you can just use, a laundrette with a games room on it.
“It's the future in some ways. Imagine that combined with an art centre.
“It would be a place where you could have parties, and you could be quiet if you want to. You've got that choice. And it's right at the doorstep of all of this.”
Increasing access to the site is also a key part of the development work.
What a reimagined Summerhall could look like from the air. (Image: Supplied)
“If we break through here, and potentially break through here and here, we can connect the entire site up. So there's footfall always kind of coming through,” the architect adds, again pointing to the blueprints.
“We're thinking about potentially just lifting the courtyard up so that the ramp's more gradual and then bringing a ramp route through here so you can come from the Meadows through here into the courtyard, into the mews, through into the street.”
As the interview draws to a close, I ask the pair what they would like Summerhall to look like in five years. Of course, that all depends on securing planning permission.
Read more:
- Summerhall faces 'partial demolition' as hotel and housing are lined up for arts hub
- The historic buildings earmarked for demolition under Summerhall redevelopment plans
- Summerhall Arts chief urges developers to ‘repair, not demolish’ much-loved arts hub
I'd like it to be thriving,” says Dr Afshar.
“I've lived in the southside for 40 years and walk my dog and go to a cafe and sit and have a coffee every second Saturday. I know how it works and I know how difficult it is to make it work and I’d like to make sure that it's a better place than it is today.
“And hopefully, the people that will use it will be similar to what they are now, but nobody can guarantee that.”
Mr Kettle adds: “I think we just need to build on the arts community that's already there, and where there's negative landmarks, let's say, create positive landmarks on the site to help it to flourish.”
Ambitious? Certainly. Controversial? Undoubtedly.
Successful? We’ll have to wait and see.