This housing project on the former site of Princess Margaret Rose Hospital offers a gentle, south-facing slope on the edge of Edinburgh, with wonderful views out to the Pentland Hills. Houses are ranged in a series of short terraces stepping down the slope, maximising the amount of sunlight entering the houses as well as giving beautiful views of the Pentlands.    

All the terraced homes have south-facing gardens with primary or secondary (“family-room”) living spaces opening onto them with all car parking at north-facing front doors. This layout creates a series of small mews, each accessed by the front door or garden gate. At the top of the site, a three-storey block of flats is set against the existing Scots Pine treebelt, while at the foot there is a shared green.

Internally, the houses are organised around a lightwell and open stair drawing light (and people) through the homes. The whole development is linked by a series of private-to-public gathering places, from the homes to a shared garden and mews, and finally to the green, each place and each transition given further life and meaning by its relationship to the sun and the view.