Designing for reuse, change & community
Our work transforming an existing industrial warehouse on Edinburgh’s Granton waterfront into a new cultural and community hub has been shortlisted for an Architect's Journal Retrofit & Reuse award
Working with Granton Project CIC, S+Co is transforming a 6,000 sq ft warehouse on West Shore Road into a flexible destination for food, events, enterprise, creativity and community.
DESIGNING FOR COMMUNITY
Earlier this year, The Pitt was shortlisted in the Future Reuse category of the Architects’ Journal Retrofit & Reuse Awards, recognising S+Co’s ongoing work to transform an existing industrial warehouse on Edinburgh’s Granton waterfront into a new cultural and community hub.
The category celebrates forward-looking projects that explore how retrofit and reuse can create more adaptable buildings for the future.
Originally operating from a temporary site in Leith, The Pitt’s popular street food market has relocated to the previously empty warehouse, evolving into a CIC with a wider mission centred on people, place and entrepreneurialism.
The ambition goes beyond creating a permanent home for the market. Through a phased approach, the building will progressively incorporate a community bakery, flexible workspaces, artist studios and a large-scale events space, while continuing to support independent traders and community activity..
“The opportunity here was to work with the building rather than against it,” says S+Co’s Director of Architecture Graham Currie. “By retaining the industrial shell and introducing lightweight, modular interventions, we can add what the project needs without losing what makes the warehouse distinctive. Just as importantly, those interventions can change as the needs of the community change.”
Importantly, the building can begin serving its community before the transformation is complete. The first phase opened part of the market and indoor community areas, providing an early platform for emerging businesses, youth programmes and local partnerships while the next stages take shape.
REUSE AS A DESIGN STRATEGY
At the heart of the project is a simple principle: retain what already exists and add only what is needed. The existing industrial shell and ground-floor slab have been retained, preserving both the building’s character and the embodied carbon within its structure. New interventions are deliberately lightweight, modular and adaptable, allowing the warehouse to evolve as its uses change.
A key element is the extensive use of reclaimed cross-laminated timber (CLT), sourced from a defunct housing manufacturer. Rather than being discarded or downcycled, the timber has been given a new life within the warehouse, forming elements including the mezzanine, trader units, kitchens, events space and seating.
The design responds to the material available, creating a genuinely circular approach to construction. Reclaimed shipping containers form the external market, while new timber structures sit within the existing industrial volume, retaining the raw character of the warehouse while introducing a new layer of activity.
“By retaining the industrial shell and introducing lightweight, modular interventions, we can add what the project needs without losing what makes the warehouse distinctive. Just as importantly, those interventions can change as the needs of the community change"
BUILT TO EVOLVE
The phased approach is central to the project’s wider ambition. As the programme develops, the warehouse will progressively accommodate new uses without requiring major reconstruction.
For Adam Storey, Founder & Creative Director at S+Co, the project is an example of how design can support a much bigger idea than the building itself.
“The Pitt isn’t just about creating a new venue. It’s about creating a framework where people, businesses and ideas can grow. The building needs to be able to evolve with the community around it, and that’s why the phased approach is so important. We’re designing for what it is today, but also for everything it could become.”
This adaptability is also part of the project’s sustainability strategy. Retaining the existing structure reduces the carbon associated with demolition and new construction, while reclaimed materials, rooftop solar and a circular heating system using used cooking oil from The Pitt’s traders further reduce its environmental impact.
The social impact is already taking shape. Phase 1 is supporting 34 enterprising businesses, alongside partnerships with organisations including Granton Youth, North Edinburgh Arts, Social Bite Village and Lauriston Farm.
For S+Co, the project demonstrates the potential of retrofit and reuse to do more than preserve an existing building. It can create a framework for new enterprise, community and culture — while allowing a place to grow and change over time. The Pitt is still evolving, but its next chapter is already underway.
