Hotel Missoni

The buildings sits on the pivot point of three striking different characters of Edinburgh’s Old Town - the Medieval Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile, the curving street of Victoria Street and the broad Victorian Improvement Street of George IV Bridge.

Different approaches were applied to each of the buildings street facades - an analogy of the “end grain” of Royal Mile frontages with vertical emphasis and a timber jetted segue piece; three ‘palazzi’ frontages of stone tracery respond to the Victorian public buildings on George IV Bridge; and a new, arcaded entrance on Victoria Terrace.

Arcades are introduced, inspired by the tradition of hard-won public space carved out of the urban frontages, to establish entrances for several additional uses brought to the site.

The re-animation of the street with many uses - shops, cafe, hotel entrance, conference and health facilities, as well as a branch of a bank - is critical to the success of the design, and this extends to reinstating the historic vennels though and courtyards within the site, where a new glass enclosed restaurant is located.