DanceBase, with Malcolm Fraser Architects

Calum worked within a team at Malcolm Fraser Architects from the Lottery Funding approval stage through to completion. In particular, involvement included the detailed design development of two new studios to the rear of the site and their integration with a garden created to the east and Edinburgh’s Old Town (Flodden) Wall to the west. The design was takes a landlocked site practically and poetically to produce a home for dance which is intertwined with its city context.

The studios connect with city, sky, circulation, ground and history is a variety of ways: The Front Studio reuses and repairs a warehouse space overlooking the Grassmarket; The Principal Studio opens up a view to Edinburgh Castle and the sky above with a generous glass roof; at the rear one studio is inward looking with almost complete indirect and soft daylight with a central oculus giving a glimpse of the sky and doors opening to a quiet garden; the last studio is more extrovert with views opening onto an external courtyard and the rooftop city view beyond.

Location: Dance Base (National Centre for Dance), Grassmarket, Edinburgh

Client: DanceBase

Completed: June 2001, the building was a finalist for the Stirling Prize in 2002.

Contract value: £4.25m

Contract type: Management Contract

Contractor: HBG (BAM Construction)

Design Team:

QS: Morham + Brotchie

Structure: Cundall

M+E: KJTait

Greatest challenge: Significant groundworks in a landlocked and historic site.

Awards: