Royal High School hotel bid rejected
Controversial plans to turn one of Edinburgh’s most historic landmarks into a luxury hotel have been rejected by the Scottish Government after a public inquiry.
Duddingston House Properties and Urbanist Hotels had appealed against the refusal by Edinburgh City Council of two schemes for the former Royal High School building on Calton Hill in December 2015 and August 2017.
International hotel chain Rosewood had been lined up to operate the hotel, which would have housed public bars, restaurants, an art gallery and performance spaces..
The £75m project for the city council-owned building, which was long touted as a home for the Scottish Parliament, was expected to create more than 260 jobs and estimated to be worth more than £35m to the city’ s economy had it gone ahead.
But the scheme involved the creation of two controversial “Inca-style” stepped extensions, one on either side of the main building.
The developers said the extensions were essential to make the hotel project viable, but critics likened them to putting “Mickey Mouse ears on the Mona Lisa”. However their plans were twice rejected by the council’s own planning committee.
The government’s ruling on the development stated :“Ministers conclude that the proposed development would not preserve the former Royal High School building or its setting and would neither preserve nor enhance the character and appearance of the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Area.”
However U rb a ni st Hotels chairman David Orr said: “This is a deeply disappointing decision for us, our investors, and our hotel partners.it is extraordinary that during a national crisis, at a time when it has never been more important to support Scottish tourism and jobs, our country has been denied a world-class hotel.”
Alternative proposals to develop the site for St Mary's Music School were given the green light in 2016 with a sevenyear expiry date on consent due to the unique situation with the hotel plans being appealed.
Despite the approval of the music school plans, St Mary's had no right to the building because of an agreement between the council and the hotel developers, which is understood to run until 2022.
Dr Kenneth Taylor, headteacher at St Mary’s, said today: “Everyone at the music school is heartened at the very welcome news that we are a significant step closer to securing the old Royal High School as our new home.
"Thanks to the wholehearted support and generosity of Dunard Fund, the funding is in place and a future on the world stage for a cultural hub for music education and outreach in Scotland has now opened before us.”
Neil Gardiner, planning convener at the city council, said: “We welcome today’s decision by Scottish ministers to fully endorse our previous decisions to refuse these applications.
"We’ll now consider options for the site and bring a report back to councillor sin due course on how to secure the best long term future for this outstanding building in Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site.”