Phyllis Stephen has been down at Ocean Terminal

where the tramline brings a promise of customers

breathing new life into the shopping centre

Back on

track in

12 FEATURE OCEAN TERMINAL

Leith

Piano, dance and acrobatics at The Wee Hub

I

f Ocean Terminal has been left out in the

cold in the north of the city, then the

new part of the tramline will

undoubtedly bring it back to life along

with many other parts of Edinburgh

where the tram passes through.

Constitution Street and Leith Walk have

suffered the brunt of road closures and

roadworks, but the mass mover of people is

expected to have a positive effect on the number

of visitors to any of the stops on the new part

of the line.

First opened in 2001, Ocean Terminal currently

occupies three floors and has 420,000 square feet

of leisure, hospitality and retail units.

Its tenants include Vue Cinema, H&M, Boots,

Nando’s and Pizza Express, employing more than

625 people. The centre includes on-site car

parking, but with the shift towards greener and

active travel, it is also easy to get to on the cycle

network and will be a key stop on the new Trams

to Newhaven line which opens to the public at

noon on 7 June.

The centre is owned by Ambassador Group, a

Glasgow-based property investment and

development company who have big plans for the

£250 million transformation of the property.

Last September the council granted planning

permission for Phase One of the company’s plans

to demolish and reconfigure the centre. The north

end will be torn down replaced by a new frontage.

Ambassador have lodged proposals for a mixed

use development including some build to rent

homes which are currently with the council for

consideration. The original timetable for the

council to grant or indeed refuse the second part

of the planning permission was 30 March but that

appears to have come and gone by mutual

agreement. Many applications go beyond their

determination date, but for now it seems

Ambassador are playing by the rules and trying to

agree some changes with the council about height

and the type of housing before it is considered by

the Development Management Committee.

This is the reason for the empty units in the

centre - they are either part of the next Phase or

within the demolition zone. It really is a case of

watch this space. Something big is on the way and

the change will also take in the public realm areas

outside the building.

THIS PROJECT backed by the Living Memory

Association (THELMA) is homed in the old

Debenhams as a meanwhile use until planning

permission is granted for the planned large scale

redevelopment. There are many activity sessions

at the Wee Hub for all ages, including crochet and

a cuppa every Monday, dancing on Thursdays,

and also a teen circus club.

The former Debenhams is also home to The

Wee Museum of Memory which is full of objects

from the past which might spark memories

and conversation.

THELMA believes that reminiscence can bring

people together regardless of who they are or

how old they are. It is all about sharing and

learning about each other. The Wee Museum is

open every day 10.30am to 4pm on weekdays

and 11am to 4pm at weekends. They also have

memory boxes which anyone can borrow.

In the Wee Hub you will find bits and pieces of

Pianodrome (and the huge sculpture, The

Elephant in the Room, created from pianos and

parts of pianos stands tall in the stairwell at this

end of the centre). These sculptures include some

of those created for Leeds Piano Trail in 2021,

where the musical art was placed in public spaces

for the Leeds International Piano Festival. Now

the cube shapes and parts of instruments form

the Edinburgh Piano Trail.

Pianodrome is a hugely inventive project

dreamt up by musicians Tim Vincent-Smith and

Matt Wright. Using unwanted pianos they create

a 100 seat amphitheatre, with some of the pianos

used in the community-centred sculpture still

playable. Last year at Hidden Door Festival there

was a large scale version called the Old Royal

Pianodrome, and since then the pair have been

in the US to help take the idea of Pianodrome

across the pond.

Pianodrome became an international

attraction at Charlotte SHOUT! in North Carolina.

Tim and Matt visited America to train artists and

builders in making the US version for the

community festival. The musicians original idea

was to create a bespoke place to perform.

The project’s ethos is that "No piano is waste,

and no person is un-musical" and the creators

have a vision of the Pianopticon - an international

network of Pianodrome amphitheatres as the

environmental alternative to excessive touring.

Pianodrome also run their Adopt a Piano

project and that is where the story moves to the

city centre. Carina Contini of The Scottish Café &

Restaurant in Princes Street Gardens has just

adopted a piano which they have installed for

anyone to sit down and play a tune. But the link

to the Pianodrome runs deeper than that. Tim

shared with Carina that the idea for Pianodrome

was created over a cup of coffee in the Scottish

Café. As Carina said “Serendipity!”

Ukrainian children living aboard MS Victoria I,

docked at Forth Ports, were invited to perform at

A new lease of life for

Ocean Terminal

Music in the former

department store