Scottish studio Collective Architecture has transformed a former observatory in Edinburgh into the Collective contemporary art centre, which is joined on its hilltop site by a new gallery, restaurant and welcome kiosk.
The City Observatory, which comprised a cluster of buildings atop Calton Hill designed by William Playfair in 1818 to evoke a Greek temple, is the new home of contemporary art organisation Collective
The buildings within Edinburgh's World Heritage Site, were unoccupied for several years before the conversion that has given the public access to the former observatory for the first time in its 200-year history.

The design and restoration project was conducted in two phases, with the first phase focusing on the relocation of Collective's gallery space from a site in the city's Old Town to the City Dome building on Calton Hill. The second phase involved the comprehensive refurbishment of the City Observatory, Transit House, Playfair Monument and Boundary Walls, along with the addition of a two-storey restaurant, a new gallery and a welcome kiosk.

"Designing new buildings to sit within this highly sensitive context demanded a respectful but forward thinking approach," explained Emma Fairhurst, who developed a design for the site's regeneration while working at Malcolm Fraser Architects, and continued as project architect when the project transferred to Collective Architecture.
"We carefully balanced scale, form and materiality to ensure the new...