Portobello Promenade

Slab Design Union submitted an entry for a competition where the brief was focused around finding interesting design solutions for an existing toilet block and activating a prominent beachfront site with a new mix of activities.

Coastal sites are beautiful and challenging. Stunning views and connectivity to the elements are countered by a variable climate that requires a robust response to foster a new community space offering a range of year-round functions.

The proposals for Portobello Promenade imagines a ‘ribbon’ development that creates a natural buffer to the elements whilst opening the promenade to a range of uses, promoting economic, cultural and community benefits. Simple robust structures introduce an activated beach frontage with improved connectivity between the site and the locality, and an emphasis on bringing people together for sporting and social pursuits.

The promenade is reimagined an interactive public art installation with colourful paving to encourage play, planters to encourage growing and cultivating, and spaces for sculptures that form a backdrop to dance, drama and music performances.

The new interventions are playful, tactile and collaborative. A new meeting place for the community, a new employment area and a new destination, reinterpreting the former glory of promenades, reactivating an important urban node, and reminding people why the ‘do like to be beside the seaside’ (and the backdrop of Arthur’s Seat is not to be missed)!