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Group News
Green....green grass of home
The eastern end of the Grassmarket is known as the Bowfoot and was infamous for being the site of the gallows. Any buildings which lay on this site would have had a grandstand view over the hangings, making it ironic that one of the owners of the properties was a ropier named John Gilmour. His name lives on in a close incorporated into one of Hillcrest Housing Association’s latest developments.
Gilmour’s Close has been developed by Hillcrest Housing Association in partnership with Edinburgh World Heritage, the Energy Savings Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council and is the second time this prominent building has been refurbished and given a new purpose by a housing association. The former Old Town Housing Association initially upgraded this building, which was then the historic Castle Trades Hostel, in the early 1980’s.
Fiona MacDonald, Conservation Architect for Edinburgh World Heritage said: "This aspirational scheme in the Grassmarket has brought a long vacant building back to life, which is a key objective of our Conservation Funding Programme. The result demonstrates that with vision and true partnership working, real advances can be made both in protecting the capital’s historic buildings and creating a sustainable and more energy efficient future.”
The tenants in Hillcrest’s 17 affordable homes will benefit from the various innovative energy efficiency features through reduced energy costs and a reduction in their carbon footprint.
Amongst the most notable of these sustainable design features is the installation of a ground source heat pump which will deliver heating and pre-heated water to all of the apartments. The only energy used by Ground Source Heat Pump systems is electricity to power the pumps. Sunspaces are featured within twelve of the flats which utilise passive solar gain, re-circulating warmed air within each flat.
John Mulloy, Hillcrest Group Chief Executive, commented that “Gilmour’s Close is a fine example of how architecturally historic buildings can be made energy efficient through the appropriate use of new technologies and invisible interventions. Hillcrest is dedicated to sustainability and it is a key driver in all of our activities.”
An official opening took place on Thursday 5th June with the development being opened by Councillor Jenny Dawe, Leader - the City of Edinburgh Council.