A vacant industrial unit in Granton Waterfront is to be transformed into a vibrant creative and community hub by arts charity Edinburgh Palette, adding to the City of Edinburgh Council’s sustainable and dynamic £1.3bn vision for the area.

The Council has approved a lease of the premises on West Shore Road to the charity, which supports the arts by bringing vacant buildings back to life, so they can provide affordable studio space. The Council’s also supporting the project by providing a year’s free rent.

The project will provide affordable shop space for local retail and hospitality businesses, animating the pedestrian promenade. It will also support the creative industries, the third sector, freelancers and micro-businesses, providing sought after high-quality studio space. When developed the building’s grounds will greatly enhance the public realm and greenspace in the area and will support active travel to and through the site. Other activities planned are play-based recreation and cultural events and the project will also provide improved access to the Waterfront.

The project comes on the back of the recently announced lease to leading arts charity Wasps who are moving into the fully refurbished Granton Station and a project with Edinburgh College to light up the gasholder in the area.

Depute leader, Cammy Day, said:

We announced our ambitious £1.3bn plan to sustainably regenerate this area last year and it’s fantastic to see real progress is being made on the ground. Our plan is for Granton Waterfront to provide quality new sustainable development and a place where people can work, play, learn, enjoy culture and live in high-quality homes. The site on West Shore Road will become a draw for the local community as well as visitors to the area, providing jobs and a boost to the local economy as well as supporting so many groups like social enterprises, sports clubs, health and wellbeing services and other community organisations.

We’ve worked with Edinburgh Palette across the city for a number of years and they’ll make a great addition to the area alongside Wasps. I look forward to supporting them in their new enterprise and seeing all their hard work come to life.

Development Manager at Edinburgh Palette, Andrew Chainey, said:

Edinburgh Palette is delighted and extremely grateful for the phenomenal support received from everyone at the City of Edinburgh Council. Our operational team and long-term contractors can’t wait to deliver on our new home at West Granton Shore.

We’ve been overwhelmed by interest in the project at 20 West Shore Road from all corners of the community including the creative and craftmaking world. The possibilities are as breathtaking as the views of the Forth from West Granton Shore.

The site located on West Shore Road will form part of a growing creative, cultural and arts cluster in Granton Waterfront. This includes the National Museums Collection Centre; National Galleries of Scotland’s Granton Art Centre (along with The Art Works, NGS’ planned new facility); Edinburgh College’s Granton campus (including its art and design faculty and the Performing Arts Studio Scotland); as well as the new 600 sqm Granton Station enterprise hub.