Listed building alterations at 1 Thistle Street, New Town, Edinburgh

“The application is to carry out external and internal alterations to the listed building as part of a scheme to retrofit and upgrade the existing office building as a whole.”

“The interior of the Queen Street building is entirely modern, so the only impact of the proposed internal reconfiguration would be from external views of the building. These works are summarised as follows:”

“The application relates to a listed building forming part of a vacant office block to the north-west of St Andrews Square. There are three component structures to this office the main part which is a 1970's block with frontages on North St David Street and Thistle Street, a single block on Queen Street with the appearance of two adjacent reconstructed/remodelled townhouses (the listed building), and a link structure on North St David Street between the two main elements.”

“The building is category C listed (reference: LB29530, listed on 13 April 1965, revised 28 March 1996) for its value as the end block of a listed terrace, and forms a category A Group listing along with the rest of the terrace. The latter is addressed in the listing description as 4-16 (inclusive numbers) Queen Street. The listing description identifies the Queen Street building as 2, 2A and 3 Queen Street.”

“The proposed works will not harm the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building, or its setting, and are acceptable with regards to Section 14 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.”

“The proposed external works to this listed building are relatively minor and appropriately scaled and detailed, so the character and appearance of the New Town Conservation Area will be preserved.”

“Notwithstanding the above, the building is statutorily listed, so to comply with the relevant planning legislation, the proposed alterations need to preserve the character of the listed building, and its setting.”

“The other proposed plant and services enclosures within the basement well will be discreetly located below the entrance platts and finished in natural sandstone to match the existing stone. These interventions, along with the new platform lift, will therefore have no adverse impact on the character of the listed building.”

“Six public comments have been received for this application. The comments relate to the associated application for planning permission and are not relevant to this application for listed building consent.”

“Conclusion in relation to other matters considered…”

“25/03242/LBC – Report by the Chief Planning Officer To GRANT listed building consent subject to the conditions, reasons and informatives as set out in section C of the report by the Chief Planning Officer. 4.26 - Flat 1, 6 Tytler Gardens, Abbeyhill…”

“Details of the proposed double gates to access the new platform lift from Queen Street shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority before this lift is installed.”

“A detailed specification, including trade names where appropriate, of all the proposed external materials shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority before any of these materials are installed on site. Note: samples of the materials may be required.”