Parts of Netflix's Dept Q building could be reused in new development

Designers for the redevelopment of an Edinburgh building featured in the Netflix detective drama Dept Q say some materials may be able to be reused in a new building.

Argyle House, at West Port in the shadows of Edinburgh Castle, could be replaced by a mixed-use development featuring a hotel, residential properties, office and retail space.

The design team have begun cataloguing materials and elements which may have the potential to be salvaged and re-used.

The brutalist 1960s block, which has frequently been cited as one of Edinburgh's least attractive pieces of architecture, was used for the exterior shots of the police station in the streaming giant's series.

A document released as part of a consultation on the proposed redevelopment, by developer Hendersonherd, said the plans were being considered in advance of the lease expiring in 2033 "to ensure the site can be regenerated and continue to deliver economic benefit to the city".

In the latest updated document, artist impressions show slightly more detail of how the new building would look.

The document says: "The existing building was built in such a way that makes alteration and recovery of materials complicated, but there may be opportunities for some of these elements to be demounted and reused.

"A deconstruction process would seek to salvage as many of these elements for reuse as possible, reducing the need for new materials and upfront embodied carbon."

The document adds: "The headlease over the building will expire in 2033 but in the meantime existing occupiers are unaffected by these proposals."

Argyle House, built between 1966 and 1969, was sold to US firm PGIM Real Estate for about £38m ($47m) in 2023.

It was initially built to house local and national government offices, but is now home to a variety of different firms.

The front of the building was also the headquarters of the fictional Lothian Police force in the ITV series Crime, written by Irvine Welsh.

The rear annexe, on Johnston Terrace, is home to tech workspace CodeBase and was used in Dept Q, which debuted on Netflix earlier this year.

It was originally set in Copenhagen in the books by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, but the location was moved to Edinburgh for the Netflix adaptation.

In August, Netflix announced that the series, starring Matthew Goode as cold case department leader DCI Carl Morck, would return for a second season.

Telereal Trillium, which leases the facility for CodeBase from PGIM, has a lease on the building until 2033.