We'll put 'wow' into Waterfront

A TEAM of architects from around the world will join forces to launch a rival application to plans to redevelop Leith Waterfront.

The experts, spearheaded by a Leith-based architect firm, say the current application is "grim and uninspiring" and will gather some time early next year to take the plan forward.

Between them they have worked on projects such as the new King's Cross Station and the South Bank in London.

Now they hope to draw a halt to the current Forth Ports outline application and force council planners into a rethink.

Ross McEwan, a partner of Leith-based Art in Architecture (AiA), which is organising the meeting, said:

"If an architecture student was to put this in as an assignment they would be failed. It is uninspiring and only does the bare minimum which the council has asked. We need something more for Edinburgh.

"This has no 'wow' factor whatsoever, and architects across the world share this view. This is why we want to submit what we are calling a contra-application."

Once AiA has collected the input from the architects and community figures in Leith it intends to submit a planning application. AiA is able to submit a rival bid even though Forth Ports owns the land, which is largely derelict.

Edinburgh artist Richard Demarco will be in AiA's team.

He said: "This organisation is rightly concerned about what is going on in Leith with this process, and they have my support.

"It is one of my favourite places in the world and what happens there will be there for hundreds of years. We have to get it right and that means getting as many views and experts round the table as possible.

"As it stands, Leith will become a dormitory, but we want it to add to what is already the most cultural city in the world."

AiA partner and founder Shaeron Averbuch said: "We don't want to come across as not wanting it to happen, we just feel it could be so much better than it is just now."

The Evening News revealed Forth Ports' plans earlier this year, which will see thousands of homes, offices and jobs brought to the area.

Dennis Crompton, a founder of London-based architects watchdog Archigram, will also be part of the process. He said: "Here we have the biggest opportunity in Edinburgh since the New Town was built. A piecemeal application like this won't fulfil the opportunity Edinburgh and Scotland clearly has here."

A Forth Ports spokesman said: "There is a strategy from Forth Ports to deliver greater public realm to give the Waterfront a sense of place. That was one of the original complaints and the strategy was put in place to address them.

"This is an outline application which only shows density. The individual masterplans that follow will have the detail.

"We have worked with AiA in the past and we will still listen to interested groups."

A WHO'S WHO OF DESIGN EXPERTS
Architects to be consulted for rival waterfront application.

• Ross McEwan: Art in Architecture – part of the team that designed new King's Cross Station, London.

• Shaeron Averbuch: Art in Architecture – experienced street sculptor and lecturer.

• Dennis Crompton: Founding member of Archigram – worked on projects such as the South Bank development, London, in the 1960s.

• Peter Barber: Peter Barber Architects – widely regarded as London's best and most exciting young architect and a specialist in housing.

• Matthew Lennon – Independent consultant who has worked on a variety of projects on both sides of the Atlantic.

• Richard Demarco – Respected Edinburgh artist and cultural commentator.

• Prof Graham Shane – Architecture professor at Columbia University and Cooper Union, New York.

• Dorian Wiszniewski – Senior lecturer in architectural design and theory at Edinburgh University.

• Prof Wolfgang Sonne – Lecturer in architectural theory, Univeritat Dortmund.