New Darwin

The ‘New Darwin’ project has involved the demolition of the existing Darwin Tower, to be replaced by a new research, teaching, and innovation building that is fit for the world-leading research and teaching delivered by the School of Biological Sciences.

The Project

The new building will create a next-generation bioscience hub to support the University’s vision for Interdisciplinary Biology. It will aid translation of ground-breaking discovery science into solutions to address global challenges, for example mitigating climate change, food security through sustainable agriculture and healthy ageing.

Central to the Darwin Building is a series of cutting-edge research laboratories, supported by an innovation environment encompassing incubator space, collaboration areas, and public engagement facilities. This will support early-stage and spin-out companies, industrial collaborations, entrepreneurship, and community engagement. The building will provide state-of-the-art postgraduate teaching laboratories and learning spaces, embedding research-led learning amongst world-class bioscience to equip graduates with interdisciplinary knowledge and industry-ready skills.

The proposed replacement of the Darwin Tower with a building of a reduced height and more appropriate scale, and higher quality design, akin to the adjacent buildings and landscape, will offer significant visual and environmental improvement to the campus, city, and surrounding areas.

Finally, the new building will support the University’s net zero ambitions, with the delivery of a more energy efficient building that is net-zero-ready.

In addition to University funding the project is supported by external funders including the UKRI Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF), The Darwin Trust of Edinburgh and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Public Consultation

In March 2024, the University sought the public planning consent process for this project, with a Certificate of Lawfulness for the proposed demolition of the Darwin Tower approved (ref. 24/01187/CLP).

A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) was submitted in March (Ref. No: 24/01183/PAN) for the construction of a new Biological Sciences research and teaching building on the same site, commencing a 12-week pre-application consultation (PAC) process.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the public consultations held in March and May 2024. Your valuable input and positive feedback on the proposed new development have been greatly appreciated.

A detailed summary of the consultations and your feedback was included in the Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) Report, which is available on the City of Edinburgh Council’s Planning Portal. The following steps were taken in response to key concerns:

1. Mitigating Construction Impact

To minimise disruption to local residents during construction, we implemented a comprehensive Traffic Management Plan (TMP) that included:

• Dedicated construction access: Restricting site traffic to specific routes and prohibiting access and parking via Blackbarony Road, Ross Road, Hallhead Road, and Gordon Terrace.
• Improved traffic flow: Opening the haul road, implementing a one-way system and on-campus holding areas.
• Parking management: Providing parking permits for contractors to prevent on-street congestion.

2. Reinstating the Eastern Campus Boundary

We are committed to preserving the character of the area, and included the following within the design proposals:

• Removing temporary structures: The haul road junction and roadway will be removed upon completion of the project.
• Restoring the boundary: The original stone wall and railings will be reinstated.
• Enhancing the environment: Soft landscaping and tree planting will be incorporated.
• Addressing community feedback: The proposed new entrance/pathway has been removed in response to public feedback.

Planning

Following the approval of the Pre-Application Notice, the formal planning application for the New Darwin building and surrounding landscaping was submitted in August 2024. The application is available for public viewing on the City of Edinburgh Council’s Planning Portal. 

Demolition

Following receipt of the Certificate of Lawfulness on 20 March 2024 (Ref. 24/01187/CLP) and Building Warrant on 30 May 2024 (Ref. 24/00926/WARR), the demolition works commenced in September 2024. 

As outlined in the public consultation, the Darwin Tower was largely ‘deconstructed’ - which involved taking the building apart rather than breaking it down - to mitigate noise, dust and vibration that can be experienced by typical demolition methods.

More details

If you have any questions or comments, please contact stuart.tooley@ed.ac.uk.