Edinburgh unit could be transformed into community hub with street food market and Finnish sauna

An Edinburgh-based arts charity hopes to turn a unit in Granton into a community hub that will contain affordable studios for artists, a street food market and a Finnish sauna.

Edinburgh Palette, which aims to provide spaces for the city’s arts community, has submitted an application to Edinburgh City Council with plans for the industrial unit on West Shore Road.

The charity hopes to transform the area by creating studio and workshop spaces as well as spots for local businesses.

If plans are approved, the vacant unit will be extended to allow room for a unique indoor and outdoor street food market, along with an events space with a capacity of 500 people.

The proposal also contains drawings for an outdoor sauna, which could provide a “first of its kind welfare experience”, according to the charity.Alongside local gardening groups, the charity wants to develop a community garden with “harvestable fruits, berries and crops”.Plans anticipate that the site will be used daily from 10am to 10pm. However, they also state: “Special late licenses will be sought to host specific events such as fringe shows, hogmanay celebrations etc.”

The charity intends to sell alcoholic drinks at the street market if the proposal gets approval.

Edinburgh Palette has previously transformed three under-used business spaces and vacant land into studio spaces, and hopes to build upon this success with the West Shore Road project.

The vacant industrial unit in Granton could be transformed into a multi-use community space.

In September, the charity held a meeting with local community members to discuss plans, where they gained support from organisations including The Scran Academy, Granton Community Gardeners and Granton Garden Bakery.