Podium finish for Bricolage in the Portobello Promenade Civic Hub competition

Bricolage has been awarded third place in the Portobello Promenade Civic Hub competition, organised by Community Competitions, with a proposal that reimagines civic life on Edinburgh’s seafront.

The design proposed a low-impact pavilion built from salvaged brick, reclaimed stone and timber, rooted in community exchange and everyday use. Rather than demolish the existing public toilets, the scheme refreshed and extended them with new showers, changing rooms and renewable energy systems, while introducing a landmark pavilion to anchor the promenade with a café, sauna and lending library.

The judges praised the entry for its “exuberant full-page section drawing” which lifted the whole jury — “a scene of energy, activity and togetherness.” They valued the ambition to create “a place of learning and sharing” and admired how the proposal wove the existing toilet block into the new civic hub.

The scheme celebrated Portobello’s traditions of reuse, from pottery kilns to Coade Stone Columns, proposing a crafted public space that balances resilience, reuse and joy at the water’s edge