The Lookout on Calton Hill

Collective Architecture and Adam Storey crafted The Lookout’s interior, with rich storytelling, formed around Calton Hill’s astronomical influences and the surrounding Scottish landscape. These stories are intended to inspire and excite diners with their unique dining moment, ensuring that they could enjoy the stunning views.

The Lookout is perched elegantly over the city, balancing technical skills and creativity. Floor to ceiling glazing allows patrons to focus on the surrounding views, and the carefully restored observatory is visually connected to the restaurant interior by an elegantly fluted ceiling and star constellation laser cut into a dramatic pendant, forming the perfect frame to view the night sky.

The historic sensitivity of the site had to be balanced with a hotbed of culture, resulting in a vibrant melting pot that embraces art and culture to provide a wonderfully theatrical dining experience, which works highly effectively both day and night, complimenting the talented team from Gardener's Cottage. Thie resultant interior is a true celebration o science and arts, leading a recharged contemporary Scottish Enlightenment.

Design Team:

Architect: Collective Architecture / Interior Designer: Adam Storey / Main Contractor: ESH Construction / QS & Project Manager: Faithful and Gould / M&E: Cundall / Original Architect: Malcolm Fraser Architects (completed RIBA Stage3)