New park opens in Granton

The council’s project to refurbish the Granton Gasometer is a central part to the regeneration of the area and the new play park inside Gas Holder 1 is now open.

Work began on the project in January 2023 and the £20 million refurbishment project was assisted by Levelling up funding of £16.4 million from the UK Government.

The project to bring this part of the city back into community use is part of the £1.3 billion project to create a new village at Granton Waterfront. This is planned as a sustainable 20 minute neighbourhood with links to surrounding areas. Active travel routes including walking and bike paths are already open, and the former Granton Station building has been restored and is now occupied by artists who are part of the WASPs community.

First constructed in 1901 the 46 metre high gas holder has been refurbished in a multi million pound project carried out by contractors, McLaughlin & Harvey on behalf of The City of Edinburgh Council.

This was one of twelve storage tanks serving Edinburgh and the surrounding area and had already been repainted 72 times before the recent works to overhaul it.

The frame has more than 100,000 rivets including the tanks, tank walls and carriages.

The new space now has a multi-sensory play zone with a dedicated space for permanent and temporary public art, a relaxation area and outdoor exercise trails.

There is an outdoor space to hold markets, sports, seasonal events and festivals.

The £1.3bn regeneration project is the biggest of its kind in Scotland. As well as many early stage projects being complete or well underway, the first phase planning application for a new neighbourhood was given the green light to go ahead in November. It includes plans for 847 “net zero ready” homes (with 45% being affordable) and capacity for a new primary school and a low carbon heat network. There will also be commercial units, active travel routes and other sustainable transport infrastructure as well as attractive public and open space all being delivered from 2025 to 2032.When removing the last piece of scaffolding from the gasometer, Graham Brown, Senior Contracts Manager from McLaughlin & Harvey said: “Taking down the last section of scaffolding marks an important milestone in this complex project. We had to design and engineer a scaffolding structure that was robust, safe and able to bear the wind loading.

“It gave us the platform to blast off existing paintwork before carrying out thousands of individual steel repairs on the frame to ensure it is structurally sound. We finished off the frame with four new coats of paint, the majority of which was applied by hand. It’s been a pleasure working with the City of Edinburgh Council and our supply chain to give a new lease of life to this historical landmark and contribute to the regeneration of the area. We’re looking forward to handing it over and seeing the local community benefitting from it for years to come.”