IT HAS been derided as an eyesore by conservationists, shoppers and architects since it was built in 1973.
Now, the St James centre in Edinburgh has revealed proposals for an £850 million transformation in what could be come the biggest city centre development for decades.
Plans unveiled yesterday include a public square, roof-top garden, two hotel
s, shops, luxury flats and new streets.
The original building, an example of "brutalist architecture", would be demolished to make way for a three-storey, crescent-shaped arcade.
The ambitious plans, which could be completed by 2015, were welcomed last night by conservationists.
Moira Tasker, director of the Cockburn Association, said: "It is an opportunity to rectify the mistakes of the past and create a legacy this generation can be proud of."
Sebastian Tombs , chief executive of Architecture and Design Scotland, a body set up to champion good architecture, said: "The skyline is a very important aspect in thinking about the cityscape.
"Now is the time to be thinking quite boldly, asking questions and exploring all the issues."
However, Dr Miles Glendinning, of Docomomo Scotland, a pressure group that fights to preserve 20th-century buildings, said the plans would be "unforgivable" and quickly become out of date. But he conceded: "There is such a consensus among civic opinion that this postwar building should go that it would be impracticable and implausible to put up a fight to save it."
His comments came on the first day of an eight-week public consultation on plans by the centre's owner, developer Henderson Global Investors, to demolish the existing centre.
The centrepiece of the proposed St James Quarter in the heart of the Edinburgh World Heritage Site would be a crescent-shaped, glass-roofed multi-level galleria, inspired by the 19th-century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. The arcade will sweep from fashionable Multrees Walk to the centre's current Princes Street entrance.
The John Lewis store alone, of all the current 50 retail outlets, would not be demolished but the other shops could be housed within the galleria.
Chris Pyne, senior portfolio manager at Henderson Global Investors, said: "This redevelopment will provide a major boost to retail in the heart of the Scottish capital. We recognise the significant public interest in the St James area, and the importance it holds for … the city."
Continental-style shopping - complete with roof garden
THE new St James Quarter could replace the existing St James shopping centre.
• At the heart of the proposed development is a crescent-shaped, glass-roofed, multi-level galleria with public-access roof garden. Existing shops, except John Lewis which will stay where it is, could move there.
• Three distinctive new buildings adjoining the galleria will house cafés and restaurants on their lower floors.
• A series of continental-style public squares will be included to encourage shoppers to walk through the quarter from different directions.
• The venture will involve the creation of a new street from Multrees Walk to the entrance to the present shopping centre in Princes Street. The crescent shape reflects the design of streets in the New Town.
• There will be two hotels, one of them five-star. The Thistle Hotel may be the second one.
• There will be office suites and the potential for a number of new homes on the galleria's upper levels.
• There will be a cultural hub – an independent cinema, art gallery or festival venue.
• A new public square, lined with cafés, restaurants and a hotel, is proposed for the area around St Mary's Cathedral.
