Firrhill Respite Centre

The project creates a new facility that is based on a typology of pavilion and garden architecture and it is intended to be subsidiary to the existing Day Centre opposite whilst forming its own frame of reference against the landscape.

Date

2010

Client

City of Edinburgh Council

Value

£1.1m

The new Respite Care Centre for Edinburgh City Council was commissioned to replace their existing Centre in Currie. The site is located to the South-West of Edinburgh City Centre, adjacent to Firrhill Day Centre which is also owned by the Council. The perimeter of the flat site is surrounded by mature trees and there are areas of well-established planting throughout.

The expressed building form accentuates the primary importance of the spaces whilst providing a well-lit, airy space that is a distinct move away from the cramped domestic architecture the respite users were used to in their previous centre.

Access to and from the building is barrier free. Internally, all corridors, doors and lobbies have been designed to aid unimpeded movement around the building.

The building is constructed from a steel frame with well insulated timber framing infill and is clad entirely with vertical Siberian larch boarding with elements of zinc.

The Challenge

The brief was to design a new Respite Care Centre for Edinburgh City Council which would provide accommodation for 8 respite clients, including private bedroom and en-suite facilities and shared living / dining facilities.

The Solution

The plan is straightforward; a double height social space to the front is viewed as the heart of the building with the bedrooms arranged along its length to the rear. The interiors are thoughtfully designed to ensure maximisation of views to the landscape beyond.

The Outcome

The expressed form creates a civic presence on a human scale as an attempt to create an opposite to the standard form of residential architecture associated with respite centres.