Seafield Masterplan

Seafield: A Climate Resilient Neighbourhood

Rising sea levels due to climate change present a major challenge for future generations. This masterplan for Seafield, on Edinburgh’s coastline, explores how a protective response to rising sea levels can become an opportunity to positively transform where the city meets the sea, for the benefit of all.

The proposals set-out a vision to transform a low-intensity, commercial-use, section of Edinburgh’s coastline into a residential-led, mixed-use, neighbourhood of up to 2,700 mixed-tenure homes.

At the heart of the new neighbourhood is a reinvigorated promenade alongside a new seafront park. These civic spaces form an integral part of the masterplan’s climate change resilience strategy, while also creating the spaces for amenity and enjoyment that will enable the revitalisation of a critical piece of the city’s coastline, a positive placemaking strategy that is embedded in sustainable and resilient development.

As well as the main strategic move of the seafront park, the masterplan has been carefully developed to prioritise active travel, community infrastructure and local facilities, based on 20-minute neighbourhood principles.

The proposed housing density is high enough to support local public transport links and sustain local shops and services but tailored to encourage variety in the types of homes that can be developed and, therefore, attract a broad mix of people at all ages and stages of life.

Careful consideration has been made of safety and inclusivity, with public spaces, routes, and paths benefiting from open aspects and passive overlooking.

The masterplan also presents the potential to significantly contribute to city’s green space and bio-diversity, with strategic green and blue infrastructure embedded from the outset.

The Seafield Masterplan is a bold and timely vision for Edinburgh’s future, a confident response to the urgent challenges of our time. As we turn to face the climate crisis, housing pressures, and the need for more liveable environments, Seafield offers a transformative model rooted in ambition and long-term thinking.

In a moment that demands courage and imagination, Seafield stands—not just as a plan, but as a statement of what Edinburgh can and should become.
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Masterplan by 7N Architects for the City of Edinburgh Council
Landscape design by Rankin Fraser Landscape Architecture
MEP, sustainability, and energy by Max Fordham
Engineering by Cundall
Planning and engagement by Nick Wright Planning
Accompanying drawings & visualisations by 7N Architects / rankinfraser / DAAKO