CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
"Leith iconic ‘banana flats’ could receive listed status"
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Posted 8 years ago #
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Leith iconic. Iconic Leith. Leith's iconic?
Posted 8 years ago # -
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1141857
The coatfield lane has a more unique character with Linksview House filling the vista behind. Walking from newkirkgate shopping center to coalfield LN has historic modernist architecture with a completeness that is getting unique
Posted 8 years ago # -
Lots of people mistake Linksview House for the Banana Flats, they do look fairly similar at first glance. Or also Persevere / Citadel court multis in North Leith given the yellow cladding panels. But there's only one that looks like a giant concrete banana when viewed from space :)
I seem to recall a twitter exchange about some of those Coatfield / St. Giles St. flats, there's a large number of the single bed ones which are unoccupied and boarded up and the reason why was they are too small now to be letted out once they become vacant, so each time a little old lady tenant passes on their way, the council can't offer the property to someone else and it is stripped and sealed up. Not that we should be putting people into houses that are too small, but for those who remain behind this breaks up their community and condemns such estates to terminal decline.
If you follow down the Kirkgate towards Linksview House there is a very complete feel as you day Ed1, it's not to everyone's taste is such modernism but it's open and airy with lots of public space, mature trees, fairly unobtrusive housing blocks facing on to them. As far as 1960s council builds go the exteriors have certainly weathered the test of time better than many (I can't speak for what they are like inside).
The area of lockups is another story. Lots of dead, forgotten, badly used space thrown in at the back of an otherwise reasonably well thought-out development.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Small one person flats boarded up, too small to let? Seems odd - the Braefoot Terrace developer up near KB is selling 18 sq m studios at £107k..
Posted 8 years ago # -
It does seem odd as with changing demographics though there was a greater demand for single occupancy more single old people and people living alone more. Also with the bedroom tax people wanting no extra rooms. The buying market may be somewhat different.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Small one person flats boarded up, too small to let? Seems odd - the Braefoot Terrace developer up near KB is selling 18 sq m studios at £107k..
Hadn't realised this was happening, thanks. Looks like there are communal living areas in addition to the 18 sq m, though.
Posted 8 years ago # -
When we lived in Sandport Street we could have had an uninterrupted rooftop view all the way to Arthurs Seat. As it was we got - the Banana Flats.
Posted 8 years ago # -
No person who lived there ever referred to them as the Banana Flats in the sort of RP voices all over the media yesterday; its Cables Wynd or 'the bananay flats'
Posted 8 years ago # -
Small one person flats boarded up, too small to let? Seems odd - the Braefoot Terrace developer up near KB is selling 18 sq m studios at £107k..
Seems to be similar to French Alps 'leaseback' arrangements where you're expected to buy to let immediately back to the building management company
It takes the mortgages off the balance sheet of the developer.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Lots of hoohah around this on the printed and televisual news and social media. I think at the root of this is a pervading misunderstanding of what listing actually is.
"Oh, but it's so ugly! How could anyone want to list that?!"
Listing does not mean a list of buildings that the man on the Clapham omnibus finds to their personal taste!
If you ever try and explain that on social media you normally get shot down in flames with some sort of suggesting that listing is simply something for Edinburgh architectural snobs by Edinburgh architectural snobs.
Posted 8 years ago # -
The listing is pretty interesting - nice potted history of the development and surrounding area:
Posted 8 years ago # -
"The listing is pretty interesting" yes, though it contains at least one error -
"Edinburgh Burgh Council"
This is my understanding of the past -
"
Prior to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 Edinburgh was administered by the single tier "Edinburgh Corporation", which covered the "City and Royal Burgh of Edinburgh".
"
Posted 8 years ago # -
My Dad still refers to taking "the Corporation bus".
Posted 8 years ago # -
I do not like a house where you go in the front door and then walk downstairs to the living room. Not sure why. I just prefer going in the front door then sitting in the living room. Bedrooms should be elsewhere and not at the front door. In my old man's view.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@gembo
In my auntie's house you go upstairs to the living room. Bedrooms downstairs. Freaks me right out once each decade. Damn Canadians.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@iwrats, it seems peculiar. Once you are living in the bananaes you do at least go upstairs to bed, you just have to go downstairs first. But going downstairs to sleep seems queer. Down the wooden hill to Bedfordshire just ain't dope.
Watched train spotting again last night with Mrs G and Master Gembo in prep for T2. Still holds up. There is a bike that gets cycled through Diane's Flat. Kelly went on to Gosford Park and then in quite a leap No Country for Old Men. I shall keep my counsel for a moment here. If you watch the extras for the 2008 version you get some insightful stuff. Much talk of sequel with Boyle waiting until the actors actually look older.
Posted 8 years ago # -
A friend of a friend lived in the 1960s flats on Saunders Street in Stockbridge. They also had the weird layout where you enter at the living room level and go downstairs to the bedroom.
I can't think why they decided to flip convention on its head in 1960s "multis", the only idea that comes to mind is that it means it is your own living spaces above your bedroom, so you are less likely to be disturbed if your upstairs neighbours are creeping about in their living room in the night.
But from an architectural point of view, it seems rather wasteful to include internal staircases where you wouldn't need them, why not lay the flats out all on one floor? For blocks like the Bananae flats, the reason seems to be is that it means you only need access to the flats on every second floor, therefore the building needs less internal passageways and the lifts need stop on less floors. The public balcony levels on these flats were an attempt to provide "streets in the sky"; there was a genuine attempt to try and build cohesive communities where people knew their neighbours, it just didn't quite work out as intended. Not sure about the Bananaes, but roof-top drying greens were a fairly common feature. The Basil Spence-designed block at Claremont Court (end of E. Claremont Street) has such a thing.
There may also have been some sort of desire to totally break from the layout and feeling of the sorts of slum tenement flats that had been cleared away and give council house dwellers a layout like a private-built semi.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I've always quite fancied those flats in Saunders St - great location for the Water of Leith and all of Stockbridge. Your theorising about the bedroom noise rings quite true (joiner currently in doing a floor repair.. hope they weren't sleeping down there)
Unfortunately they seem to only come in bigger sizes than I need and the interior decoration quality is extremely variable.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@kaps yeah, your upstairs neighbour's fine but your downstairs neighbour's party is in your bedroom.
Bananaes front door at bedroom then down to living room, Saunders street as you say front door at living room but downstairs to your bedroom.
All just too odd to catch on in conservative Scotland?
Westfield court block of flats built with its own nursery which was a nice touch by the architect except he, no doubt he, put it on the roof, seven floors up in a lift to the nursery and a cage a la New York on the playground to stop the weans blowing away.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@gembo
I have seen neither T1 nor T2. Went in a snit when I failed to get contract to translate the book into French and it was awarded to someone mundane, though I did get a nice postcard from the man himself.
Going down to your sleeping quarters is what you do in a boat. Perhaps it's to give a nautical feel?
Posted 8 years ago # -
Gives me some lines from the French train spotting
Tu gros encule radge Renton
Etc?
Posted 8 years ago # -
@gembo
That floppy disc is long lost, alas. The 'e' word was liberally present. My favourite bit was the translation of 'chorey' as 'chouraver', doubtless closing a long nautical linguistic loop.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Spud is my favourite character in train spotting. He uses the word cat where all the other characters use a different c word. Ewen bremner is great as spud. There is a scene near the end where they are selling the skag to Keith Allen. Spud is in the background sort of hanging on to the architrave as if the world is spinning away from him.
I saw Ewen bremner as Renton in the play. But he gave way with good grace for Ewan mcgregor. As he says in the extras and then the 'c' has never hired me since. He is jokingily making his point to Boyle.
McGregor of course fell out with Boyle when he cast Leo in the beach instead of him.
Whilst typing watching a gash Polanski film called Venus in Furs it would seem Tick tock in English is Tick Tack in French. Love it.
One other thing to recall, they managed to secure Lust for Life and Perfect Day on the soundtrack for a small amount of money initially which stepped up as the film and album grew more successful. This initial deal was brokered by Mr David Bowie.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Such is the primary downside of district heating, if it fails you get a lot of angry customers. It would be prudent of every householder everywhere to keep a plug in electric radiator somewhere in their home in case their heating breaks down. The difference here is that when the boiler breaks down the residents can 'blame' the management company, whereas if you have domestic central heating you just need to suck it up and get a repairman.
Despite this I'm surprised the building has a single point of failure. In my workplace we have 2 boilers and 2 pumps so even in the event of a catastrophic failure of either we don't lose hot water.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
One 47-year-old ground-floor resident of Cables Wynd House said: “It’s nice that they’re listed but the buildings themselves are a disgrace – what about the people?”
Willy Barr, manager of the Citadel Youth Centre in Commercial Street, said: “I know lots of families who live in the flats and if the flats are going to stay then let’s make them a nicer place to live.
“The best people to ask what that looks like and the changes that need to be brought about are the people who live there.”
"
Posted 8 years ago # -
I visited one house on in the new town which was the bottom two floors of a townhouse. The Bedrooms were on the ground floor but you entered the house via the basement going down the outside stairs first. It meant the house was conventionally laid out once you were inside although the living spaces downstairs were a little dark.
Posted 8 years ago #
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