One of Scotland's most prominent architects has stepped forward to defend a controversial Edinburgh office building that many consider an eyesore, arguing against plans to tear it down. Malcolm Fraser, an award-winning Edinburgh-based architect, has publicly opposed the proposed demolition of Argyle House on Castle Terrace, calling the structure "a distinguished modernist building" despite its reputation as one of the capital city's ugliest constructions.
Fraser described the demolition plans as "madness," emphasizing that the building is "sturdy, solid and useful." His comments come as building owners PGIM Real Estate have announced their intention to apply for planning permission to demolish the 11-story office block and redevelop the site for residential, hotel, and office use. The proposed redevelopment would completely transform the current use of the building, which currently serves as home to tech incubator CodeBase.
CodeBase currently houses around 80 companies with a combined workforce of over 900 employees. The tech incubator had no advance warning of the demolition plans, despite having recently renewed its lease for 12 months. This renewal means that current occupants have been assured they can remain in the building for at least another year while the planning process unfolds.
In an open letter outlining "3 reasons not to demolish Argyle House," Fraser highlighted the building's crucial role in Edinburgh's tech economy. He argued that many independent economists consider the city's self-generated tech and crafts infrastructure to be the strongest component of Edinburgh's and Scotland's economy overall. Fraser specifically praised the "unheralded and self-generated tech and crafts infrastructure - techy start-ups, crafts daubers, fiddlers and dreamers - occupying cheap space and doing the real innovation, and generating the innovative jobs, that Government always begs for."
The architect emphasized the building's remarkable track record in nurturing successful businesses, noting that Argyle House has been home to two "unicorn" companies - startups now valued at over a billion dollars each. Fraser questioned whether it represents genuine progress to "put them out onto the street for more hotels and executive flats," highlighting the potential economic impact of displacing these successful tech companies.
Argyle House was designed by Edinburgh architect Michael Laird and completed in 1968, representing a significant example of modernist architecture from that era. Fraser, whose acclaimed work includes the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile, the nearby Scottish Poetry Library, and Dance Base in the Grassmarket, offered a different perspective on the building that has been branded "one of the worst eyesores in the city center."
Defending the building's architectural merits, Fraser argued that "Argyle House is a distinguished modernist building, in a city that continues to erase its recent heritage." He praised its "sturdy, gray monumentality" as characteristically Edinburgh and noted its thoughtful urban planning. Fraser specifically highlighted how the building steps back from the tight junction at the head of West Port, a design choice he believes Patrick Geddes, the renowned town planner and Edinburgh hero, would have approved given his philosophy of "letting some light in." Fraser even recalled a Hibernian Football Supporters Forum where Edinburgh taxi drivers "praised it to the skies," describing them as "local folk with good taste."
Fraser's final argument focused on the environmental implications of the proposed demolition, addressing concerns about climate change and waste management. He wrote that "it is madness, given the seriousness of the climate emergency and the ocean of waste that we condemn to landfill, to knock down a sturdy, solid and useful building, condemning huge amounts of embodied carbon." This environmental perspective adds another dimension to the debate over the building's future.
The architect has distributed his open letter to Edinburgh civic bodies, politicians, and other stakeholders, inviting them to join him in viewing the proposed demolition as "a remarkably retrograde step." His intervention adds a significant voice to the discussion about balancing development pressures with heritage preservation and environmental concerns in Edinburgh's ongoing urban evolution.
