Cables Wynd House, better known as the Leith Banana Flats or the Banana Block because of its curved shape, is a nine-storey local authority housing block in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. The building, in fact, has ten storeys. The ground floor is called Cables Wynd and the nine floors above constitute Cables Wynd House. This often leads to confusion in postal and other services.

History

Under construction between 1962 and 1965, for many families the complex offered a welcome improvement over the overcrowding and

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

housing conditions that were still common problems at the time. There is now extensive security in the building which includes a 24-hour staffed concierge, key fob entry system and security camera system on every walkway and in each of the 4 lifts. The building is well maintained with walkways and lifts cleaned on a daily basis by council employees. On 1 December 2011, Lothian and Borders police were called to an incident involving five residents of Cables Wynd House injured by a dog "thought to be a cross between an American pitbull and Staffordshire terrier". On 13 March 2012, the City of Edinburgh Council announced plans in response to the dog attack incident to help residents identify dangerous dog breeds that had been banned under the dangerous dogs act. In 2012, communal heating and other energy measures were installed by the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

. On 28 June 2024, The

Edinburgh Evening news The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by National World, whic ...

reported that residents had a meeting with City of Edinburgh Council at

Edinburgh City Chambers Edinburgh City Chambers in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the meeting place of the City of Edinburgh Council and its predecessors, Edinburgh Corporation and Edinburgh District Council. It is a Category A listed building. History The current building ...

over the elevators state of disrepair that caused a number of residents to become stuck in them. Councillor Katrina Faccenda tabled a motion to include the renewal of the elevators as part of the retrofit project. On 6 June 2025, part of Cables Wynd House was damaged by a fire. Police confirmed that nobody was injured in the fire.

Design

The building was designed by Alison & Hutchinson & Partners under the leadership of Robert Forbes Hutchinson. It contains 212 flats and has a 24-hour

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...

service situated on the ground floor, and

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

coverage. Most of the properties use deck access, but the ground floor flats are accessed via individual front doors. Some of these properties are preferentially allocated to older people, but in recent years many young families have been allocated larger flats in the building. All but five of the flats remain in public ownership . The entire building (along with the nearby Linksview House of similar design, though not curved) was awarded an 'A' listing by

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

from January 2017, being cited as one of the best examples of '

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

' architecture in Scotland. This is the highest rating which can be awarded to a building in Scotland.

Use in fiction

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

's '' Trainspotting'', the flats were the childhood home of the character Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson. In 2007, the block was used during filming of '' Wedding Belles'', which was also created by Irvine Welsh.

References

Brutalist architecture in Scotland Buildings and structures in Leith Housing estates in Edinburgh Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh 1962 establishments in Scotland Public housing in Scotland Residential buildings completed in 1965 {{Scotland-struct-stub

History

Design

Use in fiction

See also

References