Cables Wynd House

Cables Wynd House, also known as the 'Banana Flats', was constructed between 1963 and 1965, designed by Alison & Hutchison & Partners with Robert Forbes Hutchison as the senior partner and Walter Scott in charge. Francis W Tinson served as the senior assistant, while J Smart and Co was the contractor and Blyth & Blyth acted as the structural engineers. This elongated 10-storey slab block of flats features both private and public access balconies and is situated in the Kirkgate area of Leith, part of a post-war urban redevelopment project completed in three phases during the 1960s.

The building showcases a modern Brutalist design with a long rectangular plan oriented on an east-west axis, slightly angled towards the center. It stands on splayed reinforced concrete supports at the ground floor and is noted for its undercrofts and concrete finishing, particularly its extensive horizontal elevation that curves inward, forming a boundary wall to the north.

The structure is made of an in-situ concrete cross frame with large aggregate pre-cast concrete panel cladding. It contains 212 flats, of which 204 are 2-bedroom and 8 are 1-bedroom, accessed by lifts leading to galleried decks on the 2nd, 5th, and 8th floors. The windows and glazed balcony doors have been replaced with uPVC units, and most main doors to the decks are later replacements.

In the interior public circulation spaces, observed in 2014, there are two pairs of lifts located at the bend in the plan and two to the east. The wide galleried decks on the north side are enclosed by partially ventilated glazed panels, and there is a refuse chute system at each access point on each deck.