Ocean Terminal is a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

in the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

area of

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, designed by

Sir Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran ...

History

It is built on former industrial docklands on the north side of the city, at the edge of the boundary between formerly separate ports of Newhaven and

. The land was formerly occupied by the

Henry Robb Henry Robb, Limited, known colloquially as Robbs, was a Scottish shipyard, shipbuilding company based at Leith, Leith Docks in Edinburgh. Robbs was notable for building small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly tugboat, tugs and dredgers. Hist ...

shipyard, which closed in 1983. Since then, the area has undergone

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

and regeneration, much led by and on the lands in the ownership of

Forth Ports Forth Ports Limited is a port operator in the United Kingdom based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. History Fort Ports was established in 1967 as the Forth Ports Authority. It became responsible ...

. These and other developments have played key parts in the regeneration of

. The now-decommissioned Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', which is accessed via the Britannia Visitor Centre within Ocean Terminal, is permanently berthed next to the building and can be viewed from the centre. Although originally planned to also function as a working passenger terminal, the permanent berthing of the Britannia has meant that the building has never been used for this function, despite its name. The berth occupied by ''Britannia'' was originally planned to handle cruise liners. As ''Britannia'' is now permanently moored alongside the Ocean Terminal,

plan to build another terminal for cruise liners. There is an Antony Gormley sculpture located on an abandoned pier behind the building.

Current stores

PureGym PureGym Limited is a British chain of no frills health clubs based in the United Kingdom with multiple gyms around the world. The chain is headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire, with additional offices in London and Southampton. It is Brita ...

, H&M and

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

are the Terminal's main shops; in total there are some 85 shops, 6 restaurants, 3 coffee shops, a variety of bars and cafés, as well as a cinema

Vue Vue or VUE may refer to: Places * Vue, Loire-Atlantique, a commune in France * The Vue, a skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina Arts, entertainment and media * Vue (band), a rock and roll band from San Francisco, California * Vue Cinemas, a c ...

, an indoor children's play area, a roller skating rink and a day spa.

British Home Stores British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electron ...

was an anchor tenant until 2016, and

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

until 2021.

Transport

The centre has car parking facilities and

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian ...

services 11, 34, 35, 36 & Skylink 200 terminate and begin there. The shopping centre is planned to be a stop on the

Edinburgh Trams Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is a line between St Andrew Square in the New Town and Edinburgh Airport, with 15 stops. Construction began in June 2008, and after encountering dela ...

Newhaven route, which is currently under construction and due to be opened in early 2023.

Redevelopment

In late-2018, the owners of the centre announced plans to refurbish and rebrand the centre as Porta, with a focus being placed on outlets and factory stores. In June 2020, these plans were dropped by new joint venture owners, ICG Real Estate and Ambassador Group and instead invest £10 million in the centre.

References

External links

Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre website
{{Shopping centres in Scotland Buildings and structures in Leith Shopping centres in Edinburgh Buildings and structures completed in 2001 2001 establishments in Scotland