Old Town, new tricks

Edinburgh’s Old Town buildings may be architecturally and historically wondrous in terms of look and character, but they pose a challenge like no other when it comes to solving deficiencies in terms of energy performance.

That was the task for Edinburgh World Heritage when it looked to combine sustainability with conservation, supporting residents and businesses of a post-war Category-b listed complex in the city’s Canongate, pictured, designed by Sir Basil Spence, the architect behind Coventry Cathedral and the British Embassy in Rome.

As Yann Grandgirard, climate change manager at Edinburgh World Heritage, explains, the success could not have been achieved without a partnership leading to a legacy of now knowing how to work on similar hard to treat buildings in future.

He says: “The support of our funders, the Scottish Government and SP Energy Networks, of our delivery partner, the City of Edinburgh Council, of proprietors and professionals involved, has been crucial in helping us deliver this pilot.

“SP Energy Networks Green Economy Fund funding helped us finalise our budget.”

That resulted in £330,256 being allocated to the project, which has transformed the buildings. The completed work, which began in March 2020 with John Gilbert Architects and Redpath Construction, saw an anticipated drop of 28 tons of carbon emissions per year, the equivalent to planting almost 3,000 trees.

Grandgirard says: “It’s quite unusual in the fact that we combined conservation works with energy efficiency retrofit. We were working on a building of multiple ownership and that was a challenge.

“The fact that we embraced an integrated approach, where we looked at the whole building at once, trying to repair the fabric while also implementing energy efficiency improvements in the private properties is quite unusual.”

“In some flats they were experiencing mould issues, condensation on the walls, and where there were challenges in terms of ventilation.

“The objectives were to make sure they could address these issues as well as making sure the building fabric was wind and watertight.

“The windows we installed, which reinstated the original design of Sir Basil Spence, which had been lost down the years, and improved this design by including double-glazing. It was a case of funding a balance between energy saving and conservation work.

“It addressed the ventilation issues, improved the efficiency of the building, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions.

Grandgirard adds: “We demonstrated in historical buildings you can improve things, You cannot go as far as you would in a new construction as you need to preserve the character and the historical significance of the building. But on a case-by-case basis it can be done.”