Potential Reuse of Materials in Redevelopment of Dept Q Building
Designers involved in the redevelopment of Argyle House, an Edinburgh building featured in the Netflix detective drama Dept Q, have indicated that some materials from the existing structure might be salvaged and reused in the new development.
Argyle House, located at West Port near Edinburgh Castle, is proposed to be replaced by a mixed-use development that would include a hotel, residential units, office spaces, and retail areas.
The design team has commenced cataloguing materials and architectural elements that could potentially be recovered and incorporated into the new construction.
The building, a brutalist block constructed in the 1960s, has often been described as one of Edinburgh's least attractive architectural examples. It gained recognition for its role as the exterior of the police station in the Netflix series Dept Q.
A document released during a consultation on the redevelopment, prepared by developer Hendersonherd, states that the plans are being considered ahead of the lease expiration in 2033
"to ensure the site can be regenerated and continue to deliver economic benefit to the city".
The latest updated document includes artist impressions that provide more detailed visualizations of the proposed new building.
Regarding material reuse, the document notes:
"The existing building was built in such a way that makes alteration and recovery of materials complicated, but there may be opportunities for some of these elements to be demounted and reused.
A deconstruction process would seek to salvage as many of these elements for reuse as possible, reducing the need for new materials and upfront embodied carbon."
It further adds:
"The headlease over the building will expire in 2033 but in the meantime existing occupiers are unaffected by these proposals."
Background and Current Use of Argyle House
Argyle House was constructed between 1966 and 1969 and was acquired by US firm PGIM Real Estate in 2023 for approximately £38 million ($47 million).
Originally designed to accommodate local and national government offices, the building currently hosts a variety of different businesses.
The front facade of Argyle House served as the fictional headquarters of the Lothian Police force in the ITV series Crime, written by Irvine Welsh.
The rear annexe, located on Johnston Terrace, houses the tech workspace CodeBase and was also used in the Netflix series Dept Q, which premiered earlier this year.
While the Dept Q books by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen are set in Copenhagen, the Netflix adaptation relocated the setting to Edinburgh.
In August, Netflix announced that Dept Q, starring Matthew Goode as DCI Carl Morck, the leader of the cold case department, will return for a second season.
Telereal Trillium, which leases the facility for CodeBase from PGIM, holds a lease on the building until 2033.
