Alexander Graham Bell Centre for Digital Health

The rigorous analysis of a complex brief ultimately added significant value to the project and its impact on the College as a whole. The innovative designs give consideration to how the college working environment could be radically enhanced and learning made attractive by ideas drawn from different architectural sectors.

Date

2013

Client

Moray College / University of the Highlands and Islands

Value

£4.3m

jmarchitects were required to provide a design solution for this compact urban site which resolved numerous technical and contextual challenges including: the dramatic topography of the site; existing escape routes and services; enhancement of adjoining public spaces; mitigation of road noise; gaining full advantage of the superb views from the site and integrating sensitively into the Old Town roofscape whilst protecting the historic Edinburgh skyline.

Our design utilises the materials, proportions and geometries of its context in a contemporary proposal which we believe is respectful of the historic city whilst unapologetically of its own time and culture. The 8 storey hotel features 98 individual bedrooms in a large variety of configurations and with many different outlooks to the city offering a highly individual guest experience to each visitor.

A folded roofscape of dark whinstone gives shelter to the top floor ‘executive lounge’, a facility open to all guests which is housed within the hotel’s carefully sculpted attic storey. The lounge and associated external roof terraces enjoy panoramic views across the Waverley Valley to the New Town. The north and west elevations of the hotel will be clad with the traditional materials of sandstone and whinstone with the courtyard elevation to the south adopting white brick; as is common in the old town, to bring light down into the landscaped courtyard gardens below.

Project gallery

Below are a selection of images from this project along with a description. Tap an image and it will appear fullscreen with a close button. There will also be the option to view the next image in the gallery.

The Challenge

Moray College required a new Life Science Centre to accommodate new teaching accommodation, a conference facility, a new face to the College and an identifiable new entrance linking the existing College to an existing “B” listed Academy building.

The Solution

Given that the brief for the Life Sciences department involved various social areas and break out spaces, along with a conference venue, we suggested that these facilities would be better used and more flexible if they were clustered more closely with the new entrance.

The Outcome

The relationship to the listed academy building set the precedence for our design and the opportunity to transform the entry and visual connection of the College to the historic fabric of Elgin was critical to our design philosophy. A dramatic transformation is made to the entrance experience and public image of the college, along with significantly enhanced accessibility and flexibility of use.