Cables Wynd House, better known as the Leith Banana Flats [1] [2] or the Banana Block [3] because of its curved shape, is a nine-storey local authority housing block in Leith, Edinburgh. The building, in fact, has ten storeys. The ground floor is called Cables Wynd and the nine floors above constitute Cables Wynd House. This often leads to confusion in postal and other services.
Under construction between 1962 and 1965, for many families the complex offered a welcome improvement over the overcrowding and slum housing conditions that were still common problems at the time. [4] There is now extensive security in the building which includes a 24-hour staffed concierge, key fob entry system and security camera system on every walkway and in each of the 4 lifts. The building is well maintained with walkways and lifts cleaned on a daily basis by council employees.
On December 1, 2011, at 03:30, Lothian and Borders police were called to an incident involving in early hours of the morning Staffordshire terrier attacking residents of Cables Wynd House where 3 men and 2 injured. [5] On 13th March 2012, City of Edinburgh Council announced plans in response to the dog attack incident to help residents identify dangerous dog breeds that had been banned under the dangerous dogs act. [6]
In 2012, communal heating and other energy measures were installed by the City of Edinburgh Council. [7]
On 28 June 2024, The Edinburgh Evening news reported that residents had a meeting with City of Edinburgh Council at Edinburgh City Chambers over the elevators state of disrepair that caused a number of residents to become stuck in them. Councillor Katrina Faccenda tabled a motion to include the renewal of the elevators as part of the retrofit project. [8]
The building was designed by Alison & Hutchinson & Partners under the leadership of Robert Forbes Hutchinson. It contains 212 flats and has a 24-hour concierge service situated on the ground floor, and CCTV coverage. Most of the properties use deck access, but the ground floor flats are accessed via individual front doors. Some of these properties are preferentially allocated to older people, but in recent years many young families have been allocated larger flats in the building. All but five of the flats remain in public ownership as of 2015 [update] . [9]
The entire building (along with the nearby Linksview House of similar design, though not curved) was awarded an 'A' listing by Historic Environment Scotland from January 2017, being cited as one of the best examples of 'brutalist' architecture in Scotland. This is the highest rating which can be awarded to a building in Scotland. [10]
In Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting , the flats were the childhood home of the character Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson.
In 2007, the block was used during filming of Wedding Belles , which was also created by Irvine Welsh.
Leith is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith.
Newhaven is a district in Edinburgh, Scotland, between Leith and Granton and about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the city centre, just north of the Victoria Park district. Formerly a village and harbour on the Firth of Forth, it had a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants at the 1991 census. Newhaven was designated a conservation area, one of 40 such areas in Edinburgh, in 1977.
Park Hill is a housing estate in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It was built between 1957 and 1961, and in 1998 was given Grade II* listed building status. Following a period of decline, the estate is being renovated by developers Urban Splash into a mostly private mixed-tenure estate made up of homes for market rent, private sale, shared ownership, and student housing while around a quarter of the units in the development will be social housing. The renovation was shortlisted for both the 2013 and 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize, for the first and second phases of the redevelopment respectively. The Estate falls within the Manor Castle ward of the City. Park Hill is also the name of the area in which the flats are sited. The name relates to the deer park attached to Sheffield Manor Lodge, the remnant of which is now known as Norfolk Park.
Balfron Tower is a 26-storey residential building in Poplar, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London. Built in a Brutalist style, it forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. It was designed by Ernő Goldfinger in 1963 for the London County Council, built 1965–67 by the GLC, and has been a listed building since 1996. Balfron Tower is stylistically similar to Goldfinger's later Trellick Tower in North Kensington, within West London
Balerno is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland situated 8 miles south-west of the city centre, next to Currie and then Juniper Green. Traditionally in the county of Midlothian it now administratively falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. The village lies at the confluence of the Water of Leith and the Bavelaw Burn. In the 18th and 19th century, the area was home to several mills using waterpower. In the 20th century, the mills closed and the village now forms a residential suburb of Edinburgh.
Dalry is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. It is located close to the city centre, between Haymarket and Gorgie. The area is now primarily residential. It is centred around Dalry Road, which has numerous shops, restaurants and small businesses. Lying outside the old city walls and west of the castle, the area began as part of the agricultural estate of Dalry House, the exception being the Dalry Mill, recorded as the oldest paper mill in Scotland, now demolished.
Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders neighbourhood to the west, and Wester Hailes to the south. It is sometimes included in the Wester Hailes area, while the Calders, Bankhead and Parkhead are sometimes considered parts of Sighthill. Administratively it has formed a core part of the City of Edinburgh Council's Sighthill/Gorgie ward since 2007.
Longstone is a suburb of Edinburgh in Scotland. The area is primarily residential in nature, although the area includes several small shops, eateries and supermarkets, as well as one of the main bus depots for the city's buses. The population of Longstone was 4,678 in 2019.
Anniesland Court is a 22-storey residential tower block in the Anniesland area of Glasgow, Scotland, designed by J Holmes & Partners and completed in 1968. It is the tallest listed building in Scotland, and is remarkably similar to Ernő Goldfinger's later and more famous Trellick Tower in London. It is the only tower block in Glasgow to have been granted a category A listing.
The Old Town is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, and West End, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The colony houses of Edinburgh were built between 1850 and 1910 as homes for artisans and skilled working-class families by philanthropic model dwellings companies. The first development was the Pilrig Model Buildings, near Leith Walk. Later developments across the city were built by the Edinburgh Cooperative Building Company Limited, founded in 1861. The founders of this company were influenced by the Reverend Dr. James Begg and the Reverend Dr. Thomas Chalmers, ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, who campaigned to improve the housing conditions of the poor.
Silvermills, once an ancient village, has been part of Edinburgh since 1809.
The Red Road Flats were a mid-twentieth-century high-rise housing complex located between the districts of Balornock and Barmulloch in the northeast of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate originally consisted of eight multi-storey blocks of steel frame construction. All were demolished by 2015. Two were "slabs", much wider in cross-section than they are deep. Six were "points", more of a traditional tower block shape. The slabs had 28 floors, the point blocks 31, and taken together, they were designed for a population of 4,700 people. The point blocks were among the tallest buildings in Glasgow at 89 metres (292 ft), second in overall height behind the former Bluevale and Whitevale Towers in Camlachie. The 30th floor of the point blocks were the highest inhabitable floor level of any building in Glasgow.
The Sentinels are two 90 metre tall residential tower blocks on Holloway Head in Birmingham, England. The two towers, called Clydesdale Tower and Cleveland Tower, are both 31 storeys tall and were part of a major regeneration and council home building scheme following World War II which in the 1960s and 1970s saw the construction of hundreds of tower blocks. Originally built and operated by the City of Birmingham, the buildings were part of a stock transfer from Birmingham local authority to Optima Community Association in 1999, and today the buildings are owned by Citizen housing association. The Sentinels were the tallest purely residential tower blocks in the city until the completion of the 102 metre tall skyscraper Bank Tower 2 in 2019. They are also surpassed by the 132 metre tall residential tower known as The Mercian located on Broad Street with 42 floors.
Great Junction Street is a street in Leith, on the northern outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland. It runs southeast to northwest following approximately the southwestmost line of the old town walls around Leith.
The Bluevale and Whitevale Towers were twin 31–storey brutalist tower block flats situated in the Camlachie district within the East End of Glasgow, Scotland. Both towers contained 31 floors, and were the second highest public housing schemes in the United Kingdom behind the Barbican Estate in London.
Henderson Street is a street in Leith, a district of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms a curving artery between Great Junction Street and an area known as the Shore, where the Water of Leith runs into the Port of Leith/Leith Docks. Henderson Street lies within the boundaries of the Leith Conservation Area and includes several listed buildings.
Kirkgate is an ancient thoroughfare in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It runs north from the foot of Leith Walk towards Leith Docks. It is one of the oldest streets in the district and historically one of its most vital road links.
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in Queen Charlotte Street, Leith, Scotland. The old town hall, which was the meeting place of Leith Burgh Council, is now used as a police station. It is a Category A listed building.
TheShore is a historic and picturesque street in the centre of Old Leith, the harbour area of Edinburgh.
55°58′27″N3°10′25″W / 55.97417°N 3.17361°W
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