Plans to turn Edinburgh city centre theatre into new hotel and cafe refused by the council
The City of Edinburgh Council has rejected plans to turn an Edinburgh city centre theatre into a new hotel with a rooftop bar/ cafe.
Morningbridge Ltd submitted plans on June 5 for internal refurbishment at the Rose Theatre to form a 47-room apart hotel with a cafe/ bar area in the roof at 204 Rose Street. This was followed by a change of use application the following day.
The proposals would have transformed the Grade B-listed building built in 1908, with alterations to convert the building into serviced apartments, with accommodation over five floors.
However, on November 6, the plans for Rose Theatre were refused by the council’s planning department as they would “negatively impact and harm the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building”.
Chief planning officer David Givan said: “The works do not have special regard to the desirability of preserving the listed building and will cause harm to its special architectural and historic interest.
“With regards to the assessment of the remainder of the proposal, the principle of development is acceptable and the external design is considered acceptable. Neighbouring amenity would be protected, subject to conditions, and the proposal satisfies the sustainability policies of the development plan. The impact on remaining heritage assets would not be significant.
“However, as noted above, the proposed works to the listed building are unacceptable and therefore the proposal is recommended for refusal. There are no material considerations that outweigh this conclusion.”
The proposals received seven objections on the council’s online planning portal, as well as 37 notes of support.
Reasons for approval included the new hotel being an appropriate use to bring this building back into active use, the ideal location for a hotel, the proposal will bring social and economic benefits to the city, and enhance the streetscape of a prominent corner of Rose Street.
Other locals said the proposal will bring employment and regeneration to the area, and retain the architectural character of the listed building while bringing it back into meaningful use on a site that has long needed investment. While there was also support for the proposed rooftop bar.
While, people objected due to the loss of a theatre and performance space, the detrimental impact on a listed building, and the noise impact to neighbouring property from the proposed roof plant.
While there were also objections due to the removal of the building’s historic internal features, including the chapel style auditorium structure, balcony arrangement and original architectural detailing - resulting in an almost façade only preservation.
Historic Environment Scotland were engaged in the pre-application process and objected to the proposals in principle.
In the plans, the applicant said: “We fundamentally believe the value of the listed building and setting lies in the external appearance of the building. The proposals make sensitive alterations to the external elevations which respect the integrity of the original architecture.
“The proposed development will ensure the former Rose Street Theatre is brought back into sustainable and productive use as an apart hotel, thereby continuing to contribute to the cultural, social, and economic well-being of its surroundings.”
The Grade-B listed building built in 1908 was originally designed as a four-storey Edwardian Baroque Baptist chapel built of ashlar sandstone, with harled secondary elevations. It was secularised in 2012 when the congregation relocated to the former St George’s West Church.
The chapel thereafter found no settled use, and having latterly become the home of the Rose Theatre it never recovered from closure during the Covid lockdown, leaving the building empty and unused, until in 2024 when it was acquired by the present owners who hope to convert the building into a hotel.