Welcome to the Autumn 2021 Newsletter of Richard Murphy Architects

Royal High School, Edinburgh

We are thrilled that Edinburgh Council have chosen the Royal High School Preservation Trust as their preferred bidder for the future of the Royal High School. Our project to convert the building into a residential music school for St Mary's Music School has progressed so that the building and its site will become a National Centre for Music. Our original proposals achieved planning permission in 2016 and we are anticipating a revised planning application to be submitted shortly. This has been a very long journey since we began work on this project in 2015 but we are delighted that the project is now going ahead. New images and a movie have been posted on the webpage. A press release by the Royal High School Preservation Trust can also be seen here.

A Royal Visitor to our Maggie's Centre

On the same day we celebrated our office's 30th birthday the Maggie's Centre movement celebrated their 25th with a visit by their President HRH Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall, to our building in Edinburgh. Tom Hetherington, the project architect of our most recent extension, and Richard Murphy, were introduced to the Duchess who later told the assembled company that of the many Maggie's Centres she has visited, Edinburgh remains her favourite. Our 1996 building has been extended twice and currently a garden pavilion building is being constructed and funded by the Mickel family. Richard Murphy commented "it has been an enormous pleasure and a privilege to have had such a long relationship at the Maggie's Centre, starting of course with our conversations with Maggie herself. One day we hope to be asked to build another". The left hand picture shows from left to right, Kirsty Walk, Dame Laura Lee, a statue of Maggie, HRH and Andrew Anderson who runs the centre.

New Filmhouse, Edinburgh

We believe we are making progress in our negotiations with Edinburgh planners and hope to be submitting a revised planning permission before Christmas with a view to the project coming before the planning committee in the middle of 2022. New images will be posted when the application has been resubmitted.

Trinity College Dublin Innovation Portal

Our project rehabilitating a historic warehouse in Dublin docks has doubled in size as the university has purchased the adjacent warehouse. The start on site is now expected in Spring 2022. Meanwhile, Richard is delighted to have been invited to have dinner with the Provost of the University.

Macmillan Centre, Muirhouse, Edinburgh

This project progresses towards a site start in the beginning of 2022. The image shows the courtyard and nursery area. Of the many comments that were made at the time of the planning submission here is one from Lesley Hinds, chair of North Edinburgh Arts: “This new capital project will allow the organisation to flourish, alongside council provision, and bring a first-class facility to Macmillan Square. The enthusiasm shown by our community has kept us going through some difficult times and we’re looking forward to building on this support to bring a truly inspirational place to the heart of Muirhouse.”

NEWS OF PROJECTS ON SITE

Greenock Ferry Terminal and George Wyllie Gallery

The project is progressing with piling work complete and the structural frame due to commence in the middle of this month. We were delighted to also see that cruise liners have resumed docking in Greenock and we hope that they will start using the building towards the end of summer next year.

New House in Gullane

This project started on site in August and already the steel frame is in place. The contractor P J Green expect it to be complete in the New Year. Here is a photograph of a sunny project meeting: left to right: Phil Green (builder), Richard Murphy, Tom Hetherington (project architect), Kim Ritchie (client). Photo courtesy of Graeme Ritchie (client).

NEW PROJECTS

New House at Napier Road, Edinburgh

A planning application has been submitted for a new house in Napier Road in the Morningside conservation area of Edinburgh. The project places a new house engaging with the existing stone boundary wall in the manner of the many gatehouses and lodges in the area. A new webpage has been created.

New House in the Braid Hills, Edinburgh

New clients have purchased a bungalow in the Braid Hills which they intend to demolish and replace with a large family house. The site is on the top of a steep hill with possibly the most spectacular views of, and in, the whole of Edinburgh. We anticipate a planning application in November and details of this exciting project will be published in our Christmas newsletter. In the meantime here is fifty percent of the view from right to left Calton Hill, Edinburgh Castle to Corstorphine; the view continues round past Craig House and finishes with the ski slope on the Pentland Hills.

And the one that got away...Antrim Hospital

We were disappointed to lose narrowly the recent competition for a 180 bed mental hospital in Antrim. Our team which included us as design champions along with RPP Architects and Aecom in Belfast produced a design which progressed much of our thinking developed first in the highly successful Acute Mental Health Facility we finished with RPP at the Belfast City Hospital in 2018. The drawings of the Antrim project can be seen on the newly created webpage.

Press

There has been a great deal of interest in the Royal High School Preservation Trust's proposals for a National Music Centre and the decision by the City of Edinburgh Council to approve the proposal has been widely covered in national press, and on tv, on STV news. Press coverage can be found here.

STV news at six featured a long item by Sasha Spratt about our Greenock Ocean Terminal & George Wyllie Gallery project focussing on the economic benefits of the cruise liner terminal for the town. Part of our video of the project was shown. The full video can be seen here.

Carlo Scarpa and Castelvecchio Revisted

Richard has taken delivery of another 1500 copies of "Carlo Scarpa and Castelvecchio Revisited" printed in Northern Ireland. The previous print run of 3000 sold out earlier this year. Already 10% of the new stock has been sold. Copies can be purchased at www.breakfastmissionpublishing.com for £75.00 with postage to anywhere in the world included in the price. An Italian language edition is also almost ready for printing, and this should be available in Spring 2022.

And finally...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

On the 1st October 1991 Richard Murphy Architects was launched with a speech by the late Professor Isi Metzstein at a party in our then office in Blair St. Exactly thirty years later to the day, and probably to the hour, and over two hundred projects and 28 RIBA and RIAI Awards later, we assembled for a celebratory dinner with past and current clients and staff in our "Scottish Building of the Year," the Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries, completed in 2017. Professor Robin Webster OBE recent President of the RIAS made a wonderful and generous speech. Our thanks to the staff of Dunfermline Libraries & Galleries for their hospitality and also to all our past and current clients, consultants, past and current staff who joined us on a wet Friday evening in Dunfermline. You can see a 30 year timeline of our work (and our parties) via this link.