One of Edinburgh’s most distinctive modern buildings is set to be transformed into a 385-bedroom hotel under plans recommended for approval by council officials.
Vita Group wants to convert the Category A-listed former Scottish Widows headquarters at 15 Dalkeith Road, beside Holyrood Park and opposite the Royal Commonwealth Pool.
The proposals will go before City of Edinburgh Council’s Development Management Sub-Committee today (30 September), with planning officers recommending approval. A separate application for listed building consent is also being considered.
The huge office complex has been empty since Scottish Widows moved out in 2020 and was bought by Vita Group for development.
Under the latest proposals, the seven interconnected hexagonal sections of the building which are being retained would be converted into a hotel containing 385 bedrooms.
The building’s distinctive honeycomb appearance would remain a central feature of the development, while substantial alterations would be made internally to allow the former office floorplates to work as hotel accommodation.
Changes are also proposed to the main atrium, entrances, façade and landscaping.
No hotel operator has yet been publicly announced.
The new plans follow an earlier redevelopment scheme which secured permission for five of the headquarters’ original 12 hexagonal modules to be demolished.
That development would also create a new residential neighbourhood on part of the six-acre site.
The consented residential element, which includes affordable housing, is expected to continue alongside the hotel scheme.
Planning documents state that hotel use provides a commercially viable way of bringing the landmark building back into use while preserving its most significant architectural features.
The developer says the proposal would secure the building’s long-term future.
The Scottish Widows headquarters was designed by Sir Basil Spence, Glover & Ferguson and constructed between 1972 and 1976.
Its series of interlocking hexagonal blocks was conceived as an architectural response to the distinctive geology of neighbouring Salisbury Crags, while the surrounding landscape was designed by celebrated landscape architect Dame Sylvia Crowe.
The complex won a RIBA Award for Scotland in 1977 and was designated Category A-listed in 2006.
Its protected status is also one of the key sensitivities surrounding redevelopment.
Previous plans for the site attracted significant heritage concerns, particularly over the demolition of the five hexagonal modules, replacement of original curtain walling and loss of parts of Crowe’s landscape.
The Twentieth Century Society strongly opposed the earlier redevelopment, arguing that the loss of almost half of the original building and large areas of landscaping would damage the significance of the Category A-listed complex.
Historic Environment Scotland acknowledged that the earlier plans would cause harm to both the listed building and its setting, although it ultimately concluded that a less interventionist scheme was unlikely to be viable or deliverable.
Those demolition works already have planning permission and the latest hotel application concentrates largely on finding a new use for the seven modules that are due to survive.
Planners have had to consider whether the hotel alterations themselves would preserve the architectural character of the retained building, including changes to its façade, atrium and internal structure.
The site lies within the South Side Conservation Area, directly beside Holyrood Park and close to the Category A-listed Royal Commonwealth Pool.
Despite the heritage and operational issues associated with converting such an unusual building, the latest scheme has reached committee with a recommendation for approval.
If councillors agree, it would mark another major step towards bringing back into permanent use an Edinburgh landmark which has stood largely empty for six years.