Edinburgh's Atik nightclub building which featured in Trainspotting 2 could be turned into student flats

The former nightclub could be turned into 145 bedroom student accommodation block.

A former city nightclub which featured in Trainspotting 2 could be turned into student flats under plans now out for public consultation.

The now empty Atik nightclub and adjoining land would be redeveloped to create a 145 bedroom student accommodation development with ancillary and commercial units on the ground floor, if proposals by Silvermills Estates Land Ltd are given the go-ahead.

The iconic West Tollcross venue, beloved by generations of Capital clubbers as The Cavendish, Clouds, Outer Limits, Bermuda Triangle and Lava & Ignite, permanently closed its doors in January, 2023. It’s proposed that the site would be split into three blocks from Home St round to Lochrin Street. Part of the proposed site is currently occupied by a single storey martial arts school and the site of a former public toilet.

The former club could become student flats

The development would sit opposite the busy Tollcross junction, where primary routes from the Old Town, Lothian Road and southern main roads converge. There’s currently another student flats complex at 22 West Tollcross. But developers claim there’s a shortfall in the city of student accommodation and an excess in demand is forcing up rents making accommodation unaffordable.

A flyer outlining plans states: “The proposed forms carefully respond to the streetscape and secondary blocks of accommodation sit quietly below the wider Victorian tenement. The vision for the site is to respond to the demand for PBSA in the area and deliver a scheme that adds value to the site and the wider area of West Tollcross. A nightclub venue that was associated with anti-social behavior is to be replaced with a carefully organised, modern development that delivers a range of uses with a sustainable, well designed approach."

The site is adjacent to a fire station and the boundary of the Fountainbridge Development Brief Area, which has seen a number of recent developments to Lochrin Basin and former Scottish & Newcastle Brewery Site. A public consultation has been launched and an event is taking place on Tuesday August, 29 at Central Hall, 2 West Tollcross, Edinburgh EH3 9BP between 4pm and 7.30pm. A formal planning application has not yet been submitted.

Silvermills Estates & Land Ltd has been contacted for comment.