This ideas competition for Portobello Promenade allowed us to share some collages about community-led projects that might be suited to the re-imagining of Portobello’s public toilets.
Ideas we included:
Recycled plastic tiles to cover the toilet block outside wall. These could be made in a recycled plastic workshop that uses waste found on the beach.
A lookout tower to get the best views of the Forth and back towards Arthur’s Seat. This design was based on the old diving tower at portobello’s outdoor swimming pool.
Self Build Spaces that could be moved around depending on where they are needed along the promenade e.g. Water research hub.
Outdoor Cinema using the blank wall as a screen and the new viewing tower to project from.
Community Outdoor Dining Area for 24hr gatherings and celebrations.
Storage for paddle boards and beach wheelchairs.
Pop up sauna with outdoor shower for cold water dippers.
We used open source software to create our entry to demonstrate different ways to communicate ideas that could be used as part of a design brief or further community engagement.
This piece of work was longlisted by the judges.
Portobello Promenade
Common Tide
(a poem by Imagine If)
Spring 2026 starts by the Forth's edge,
Where community hands build modular dreams,
Recycled plastic tiles catch morning light,
As paddle boards slice through silver streams.
At first the land becomes a classroom,
gardens, markets, studios, play,
a place to test, to learn, to share,
where different futures are rehearsed each day.
Into summer you can smell the bakery’s warmth,
Artists' studios creatively hum,
Evening cinema, screens flicker alive,
While families picnic in the everlasting sun.
From the lookout, Arthur's Seat stands proud,
Across to Fife the waters gleam,
With kayaks spotted up and down the Forth,
And beach wheelchairs rolling towards the dream.
Autumn strolls along Portobello promenade,
Sitting on chairs we once thought of as waste,
Research huts study the sea’s quiet story,
While communities feast on harvests embraced.
Winter mornings wrap the coast in silver breath,
But sauna stones glow warm and bright,
From cold sea plunge to heated embrace,
Recalling how the old toilet block sparked new life.
Each pop-up structure tells the story,
Of a place built, run, and slowly grown,
By local people who truly dare,
To shape a place where hope is sown.
