Edinburgh Printmakers

Page Park has sensitively transformed a former industrial building in Edinburgh into a multi-use arts complex

Photos
Jim Stephenson

The Edinburgh Printmakers new creative hub is located within the former headquarters of the North British Rubber Company (NBRC) on Dundee Street in Edinburgh. Designed by Page\Park, the 2650-square metre arts complex is centred around printmaking production, and includes two galleries, a shop, cafe, education space, staff offices, environmentally controlled archives, eight creative industries units and a large print studio.

The NBRC building is the only surviving structure from the once large and important nineteenth-century Castle Mills industrial complex. Central to the architectural concept are a series of precise interventions that are designed facilitate new uses while respecting the character and story of the existing building, says the architect.

Lower-ground, upper-ground and first-floor plans; section

A bold new entrance provides a public face for Edinburgh Printmakers, as well as views from the street directly into the galleries, reception and shop. The new rear extension creates a central courtyard around which building occupants can meet and interact. The courtyard also addresses the broader redevelopment of the surrounding site and is one of a series of public spaces linking the canal to Dundee Street.

The print studio is located first-floor level in the triple-height former joinery workshop. Fabric repair works were carried out as necessary, but the patina of 150 years of occupation has been maintained. Historic joist pockets within the raw brick walls are retained, the original muscular cast iron structure and timber trusses are left exposed, and marks of previous interior colour schemes are left untouched. The approach was not to whitewash away the many stories of this space, but instead allow a new layer of occupation to add to the ongoing narrative, explains the architect.

The building’s original fabric that was no longer required has been repurposed. Glazed bricks found behind layers of plaster in the basement now form the servery counter. Large timber doors have been re-imagined as tables in the cafe. Bespoke shop fittings are crafted with plywood, steel and rubber in a nod to the building’s industrial heritage.

In collaboration with visual artist Calum Colvin, the architect has designed one of the permanent artwork commissions in the building. The EPscope is a synthesis of periscope and kaleidoscope providing a view from the public cafe into the print studio above, and overlaid with images of products made by the rubber company. These objects refract and collide to create patterns that are at once obtuse and accurate, like a memory.