£850m St James plan chiefs unhappy with limestone

Martin Perry shows off the limestone option. Picture: Scott Louden

The £850 million master-plan for redevelopment of the St James Centre is set to be ­approved – but developers face a potential headache after planners criticised their choice of stone for the building.

City officials have recommended councillors grant planning permission for the bulk of Edinburgh St James at a meeting next week.

However, plans to use limestone cladding on the outside of much of the complex have been dealt a blow after city officials described it as an “alien” product for the New Town that would “detract” from the area.

The upmarket complex of boutiques, restaurants, apartments and a five-star hotel is set to transform an unloved area of the city centre into a shopping mecca to rival top retail destinations across the UK.

But developer TH Henderson Real Estate warned that an insistence on sandstone could hamper its ability to deliver the project “as planned”.

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It argued that sandstone is too expensive, too brittle and too difficult to obtain in the quantities needed.

The new report by city planners states: “The continued use of sandstone spans 250 years, from the inception of the New Town, with buildings such as Register House, right through to recent developments like Multrees Walk and Harvey Nichols.

“The extensive use of limestone would detract from that character, being alien in its appearance and weathering characteristics.”

One square mile of natural stone cladding is required to cover the lower surfaces of the scheme, with upper levels covered in reconstituted stone cladding.

Development director Martin Perry has revealed how his firm scoured 30 quarries across Europe to find a supplier able to provide the volume of stone required to the right standard.

Using smaller amounts of sandstone from different quarries could produce a “Battenberg effect”, it has been warned, with a patchwork of different-coloured panels giving a poor overall appearance.