Places · Scotland · Edinburgh
Façade & building consultants in Edinburgh.
From Old Town tenements and Georgian New Town terraces to post-war towers and new waterfront homes, Edinburgh's buildings tell the story of a capital city. McKay Turner Consulting provides façade condition surveys, defect investigations, external wall fire risk appraisals and EWS1 assessments across the city.
EDINBURGH 55.9533° N, 3.1883° W
A short history
A capital that built upwards, then outwards
Edinburgh's Old Town grew up along a narrow ridge, so it built upwards. From 1767 the city spread north into the planned New Town, and together they now form a World Heritage Site.
- c.1130
A royal burgh
King David I makes Edinburgh one of Scotland's earliest royal burghs.
- 1628
New town walls
Work starts on the Telfer Wall, extending the town's defences in rubble built from local sandstone.
- 1767
The New Town
Building starts on James Craig's competition-winning plan. The New Town grows in stages until around 1850.
- 1824
The Great Fire
Fire destroys most of the buildings on the south side of the High Street between St Giles and the Tron Kirk.
- 1867
Improving the Old Town
The Edinburgh Improvement Act starts the transformation of the crowded Old Town, with new streets and tenements.
- 1995
World Heritage
UNESCO inscribes the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh as a World Heritage Site.
- 2004
A new Parliament
The Scottish Parliament building opens at Holyrood, designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue with RMJM.
- 2026
Back to the coast
Construction starts on the first 847 net zero homes at Granton Waterfront, part of a £1.3bn regeneration.
Architecture
What makes Edinburgh's buildings distinctive
Historic Environment Scotland calls the New Town the largest and best-preserved example of Georgian town planning in the UK. It sits beside the medieval Old Town, with its narrow closes and tall stone tenements.
Key styles
Old Town tenements
Tall stone tenements, or "lands", packed along the ridge and reached by closes often only a few feet wide.
Georgian New Town
Planned streets, squares and crescents faced in smooth sandstone. Robert Adam designed Charlotte Square, completed as part of the First New Town.
Greek Revival
Classical monuments on Calton Hill made the "Athens of the North" nickname literal. The National Monument, a copy of the Parthenon, was left unfinished in 1829.
Victorian
Rich stone halls such as McEwan Hall (1888–97), and street after street of pale and red sandstone tenements in the suburbs.
Post-war Modernism
Council housing replaced slums in the Canongate in the 1950s. The St James Centre was completed at the east end in 1970 and closed in 2016.
Contemporary
The Scottish Parliament (2004), built with granite, oak and steel, won the 2005 Stirling Prize. Net zero homes are now under way at Granton Waterfront.
The city's material palette
Did you know?
Craigleith's best grade of sandstone, known as "Liver rock", took a smooth polished finish and was exported to London, Europe and the USA.
Old Town buildings of 11 storeys were common in the 17th century, and some were reportedly 14 or 15 storeys high.
Red sandstone from Locharbriggs in Dumfriesshire arrived by rail in the late 1800s. That is why pale and red tenements stand side by side off Bruntsfield Place.
Typical building types
What Edinburgh is built of today
Stone tenements and terraces sit alongside offices, student housing and new rental blocks. Much of the centre is listed or in a conservation area, so façade work often needs consent.
Tenement flats
Stone tenements from the 1600s to 1900s, often with shared roofs, stairs and façades.
Where: Old Town, Marchmont, Leith
Georgian terraces
Sandstone townhouses and flats, many now offices or apartments.
Where: New Town, Stockbridge, West End
Commercial offices
Stone-fronted offices in the centre and modern offices on business parks.
Where: Exchange District, Haymarket, Edinburgh Park
Modern apartments
Waterfront and brownfield blocks from the 1990s onwards, many with cladding.
Where: Western Harbour, Quartermile, Granton
Purpose-built student
Large blocks serving the city's universities, with more in the pipeline.
Where: Southside, Fountainbridge, Chesser
Build to rent
Professionally managed rental blocks, a growing part of new supply.
Where: Fountainbridge, Leith, Chesser
Hotels & mixed use
New hotels and converted historic buildings serving a busy visitor economy.
Where: St James Quarter, Old Town, Haymarket
Heritage & civic
Listed civic, church and cultural buildings that need specialist care.
Where: Royal Mile, Calton Hill, Holyrood
Current construction trends
Where Edinburgh is building now
New homes on waterfront and brownfield land lead the pipeline, alongside a new concert hall and work to make cladding safe.
Granton Waterfront
Work started in October 2026 on 847 net zero homes, including 387 affordable homes, plus a new primary school. It is the first phase of a plan for 3,500 homes.
Dunard Centre
The city's first purpose-built concert hall in over a century is rising behind St Andrew Square. Piling finished in June 2026, so basement excavation can begin.
Chesser regeneration
Scottish ministers approved Watkin Jones' scheme in 2025, with 293 build to rent homes, 406 student beds and 100 affordable homes.
Cladding Remediation Programme
The Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 came into force in January 2025. By June 2026, funding had been provided or offered for Single Building Assessments on 526 buildings across Scotland.
Affordable homes
Under the Housing Emergency Action Plan, the council and partners have completed 1,473 affordable homes since 2024, with £1.6bn committed to affordable housing.
Stone repair and reuse
Sandstone is again used for repairs and new build, and many older tenements and offices need stonework, roof and window repairs to stay in use.
How we help in Edinburgh
Every era of building has its own risks
We match our inspections and advice to the age and construction of your building.
Georgian, Victorian & Edwardian stone, brick and terracottac.1750–1930
Weathered stone, failed pointing and mortar, corroding iron fixings and water ingress through older details.
Post-war concrete and system buildsc.1950–1990
Spalling concrete, corroded reinforcement, ageing windows and poor thermal performance.
Curtain walls, rainscreen and high-rise residentialc.1990–2018
Leaking seals and gaskets, combustible cladding and insulation, and missing cavity barriers.
New build and conversionstoday
Design and specification gaps, workmanship defects and building standards compliance.
One Crown Place, London: a peer-reviewed PAS 9980 FRAEW and EWS1 A1 for a 100m+ tower, delivered in five working days.
Read the case study →FAQs
Façade services in Edinburgh
Do you carry out external wall and cladding assessments in Edinburgh?
Yes. We carry out external wall fire risk appraisals using the PAS 9980 method, and EWS1 assessments, which lenders still ask for in Scotland. We can also advise owners and factors on the Scottish Government's Cladding Remediation Programme and Single Building Assessments.
How quickly can you respond to an enquiry in Edinburgh?
We work across Edinburgh and the Lothians. We aim to respond to new enquiries within one working day, and we arrange site visits and access to suit your programme.
Can you survey tenements and listed buildings?
Yes. We inspect sandstone, harling and slate on tenements and Category A, B and C listed buildings, including in the World Heritage Site, and recommend repairs that suit their age and construction.
Which other services do you offer in Edinburgh?
Technical due diligence, defect and water ingress investigations, thermographic surveys, façade condition surveys, specification and tender, development monitoring, remediation project management and expert witness services.
Work with us
Own or manage a building in Edinburgh?
We provide façade condition surveys, defect investigations, external wall assessments and EWS1 forms, and manage remediation across Edinburgh and Scotland.
Photographs: Gabriele Stravinskaite and Cameron Gibson on Unsplash.