Highland councillors will decide next week whether to grant permission for a new Inverness hotel – and seal the fate of the Ironworks music venue.
It’s been a bumpy road to get to this point. Back in 2020, plans for a new £30m Marriott hotel were branded “monolithic and devoid of architectural quality”.
Developers Bricks Capital literally went back to the drawing board. Two years later, they’ve produced new plans that appear to have won the favour of Highland Council and other consultees.
However, councillors on the south planning committee will have a difficult decision to make next week. Planning approval for the hotel would result in the loss of the city’s popular Ironworks music venue.
Here’s where it gets trickier: planners say it’s not really the business of the council to interfere with commercial markets.
As such, they recommend giving ‘limited weight’ to the Ironworks dilemma.
Brand new design
So what exactly is Bricks Capital proposing? The real estate firm wants to demolish the Ironworks building and create a 155-bed hotel in its place.
The £30m Courtyard by Marriott hotel would include a cafe/bar, restaurant and guest gym. It would also provide a new commercial gym on the Rose Street entrance.
The site is an L-shaped area with frontages on both Academy Street and Rose Street. Ironworks inhabits the building on the Academy Street entrance, and the Rose Street side is a brownfield site with existing permission for a multi-storey building and student flats.
The new design has three key elements. Most striking, a seven-storey feature tower rendered in white limestone with full height glazing to the north west, offering extensive city views.
The Academy Street side features a two-storey entrance with large windows on buff coloured sandstone columns. This building links to a second-floor gym in a more contemporary design finished with zinc scales.
Thirdly, the main accommodation block on Rose Street runs to six-storeys, in a rectangular shape. This elevation also offers access to the new commercial gym.
‘Respectful and complimentary’
So far, the new design has won over previous critics. Highland Council had slammed the 2020 design, saying it was “monolithic in appearance and largely devoid of any architectural merit”. South planning committee refused permission for that design in December 2020.
However, the council report now says: “The proposed development under consideration now as a whole has evolved significantly from the earlier design submissions, where the project team has taken on board the range of comments provided both through engagement with the Inverness design review panel, and following consultation with the council’s historic environment team, to deliver a design package that fits well with the site and is respectful and complimentary to its setting and those of its neighbouring
properties.”
Inverness design review panel was heavily involved in this evolution. They reviewed the designs first in April 2021 and again in October. In April, the panel stressed that the development must feel “of Inverness” and concluded they were “unconvinced of its success”.
However, six months later and with design tweaks in place, the panel welcomed the design as “much improved”.
None of the other statutory consultees have raised an objection. Historic Environment Scotland looked at the impact on views of the A-listed Old High Church from across the river, but concluded the church remained prominent on the skyline.
What about the Ironworks?
The council did receive some negative feedback from the public, with three timeous representations and two late comments. These were concerned about the impact on the conservation area, increased traffic, the quality of the hotel designs and the loss of the Ironworks.
Highland Council’s report describes the hotel proposal as a “major development in the heart of the city”. It sits within one of four city centre districts that the council want to enhance.
One of the main aims of its strategy is to develop brownfield sites and create visitor and cultural attractions. In this respect, the council believes the application meets the planning criteria.
However, the loss of the Ironworks could breach the ‘town centre first’ principle of the Inner Moray Firth local development plan. This principle aims to make sure new developments don’t damage the vitality of the town centre.
“Consideration has to be given as to whether the loss of the Ironworks music venue arising from this proposal would comply with this policy,” says the report.
Weighing in on this dilemma, the council report states that it has no control over commercial venues like the Ironworks. Instead, the planning committee must look at ‘material considerations’ such as development plans and architectural build.
Ultimately though, the final decision will fall to the councillors.
South planning committee meets at 10am on June 23, and can be viewed on the Highland Council webcast.
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