The redesign and dramatic upgrading of Hillend dry ski centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh, including a plan to make the complex carbon-neutral, has been granted planning approval.
Hillend, sometimes known as the Midlothian Snowsports Centre, has offered skiing for the past six decades and for much of that time had the largest dry slope in the UK, Europe and for a time the world.
The ski slopes themselves have changed little and the new plans are to make Hillend more of a multi mountain sports centre with a mountain coaster, climbing wall, zipwire and mountain biking with a new name ‘Destination Hillend’. The ski slopes are to be “upgraded” as part of the plans. Work on improving the access road and base area groundworks are already underway.
Scottish architect Smith Scott Mullan Associates has been given approval to demolish existing base buildings and work on the new two-storey facility which has been designed to blend into the Pentland hills more sensitively than its predecessor with an undulating ridgeline to buildings which will match the nearby hill tops and a green roof to enhance biodiversity.
The new building will house a restaurant, shop, gear rentals, changing rooms, an indoor soft play and a two-storey climbing wall.
The development intends to be a net-zero ski centres with a design for maximum energy efficiency and renewable power used once operational.
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