Edinburgh gas explosion street homes to be demolished and replaced with six new homes under Baberton plans

James Findlay Smith, 84, tragically died when a gas explosion ripped through a house in Baberton Mains Avenue late on Friday, December 1, 2023. Two other people were taken to hospital.

The scene at Baberton Mains Avenue the morning after the explosion on Friday, December 1.

Police were called to the incident at around 10.25pm and found the house reduced to rubble. It is understood that Mr Smith was in a neighbouring property. His family paid tribute to him, saying at the time that their “thoughts are with everyone involved”, as they thanked the emergency services and neighbours for trying to help Mr Smith.

Residents in the explosion damaged homes and neighbouring properties had to be moved to temporary accommodation, but with plans now submitted to demolish the homes and replace them with six new properties, residents should soon be looking forward to getting back to their neighbourhood.

The plans were lodged on February 21 by Sedgwick UK on behalf of the residents at 23-33 Baberton Mains Avenue.

The scene of devastation at Baberton Mains Avenue the morning after the late-night house explosion on Friday, December 1.

Pointing out that the new homes will look similar to the previous property, Sedgwick UK said in the planning documents: “The proposed design solution heavily references the surrounding and existing buildings but with a more modern finish. The proposal reflect the existing building lines maintaining continuity as much as possible through the street in both plan and elevation.

“The proposal also looks to reflect the surrounding material palette by replicating the neighbouring brick colour, combined with a white render and anthracite grey windows, doors, facias and gutters – providing a more modern, updated finish.

“In addition, the inclusion of a new front door canopy helps to break up the monotony of the long front façade, whilst providing a practical quality of life change from the existing properties – a sheltered front door to protect from the weather when finding keys, locking the door or even for visitors.”

However, proposed alterations to the existing design due to current building regulations “betters the previous building”. These include the windows being larger than before due to current building regulations relating to natural light and ventilation. While, the rear ground floor door to the garden is shown as a sliding door to prevent damage to the heat pump when opening.

These plans show the front, back and side of the proposed new homes to replace the damaged properties at Baberton Mains Avenue. | Sedgwick UK

The proposed site plan shows that four of the six properties will use their front gardens as a driveway, “to reflect the use of this space as the pre-explosion property”.

The other two properties will be accessible via a pathway from the street to the ground floor level. The full front garden will be graded the same as the others.

There will be no gas supply into the proposed new properties as per the current building regulations. Existing power and water supplies will be reconnected and existing fouls and surface water drainage systems will be reused for the proposed properties.

The City of Edinburgh Council’s planning department will now decide on the proposals, which have already received one note of support on the online planning portal.