Ocean Terminal is the largest

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

in the

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

area of

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. It is within the City of Edinburgh.

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 shipbuilding company based at Leith Docks in Edinburgh. Robbs built small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly tugs and dredgers. History The company was founded on 1 April ...

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

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

and regeneration, much led by and on the lands in the ownership of Forth Ports. 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, Forth Ports 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, H&M,

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

and

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

are amongst the main shops; in total there are some shops, 6 restaurants, 3 coffee shops, a variety of bars and cafés, as well as a 12-screen Vue cinema, an urban dance studio, children's play area and a day spa. British Home Stores was an anchor tenant until 2016, and

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...

until 2021. The mall currently has an

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

vaccination clinic on the second floor.

Transport

The centre has multi level car parking facilities at the Southern end of the building.

Buses

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 Lothia ...

services 10, 34, 35, 36 & Skylink 200 run from the stops at the front entrance. Edinburgh Bus Tours also stop here on their ''Majestic'' route.

Tram

Ocean Terminal has a stop on the

Edinburgh Trams Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is an line between Newhaven, Edinburgh, Newhaven and Edinburgh Airport, with 23 tram stops, stops. A modern tram network for Edinburgh was proposed by ...

light rail route, which opened with the Newhaven line extension in June 2023. Services run to Newhaven and to the

City Centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

and

Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport is an international airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located west of the city centre, just off the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 and M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorways. It is owned and oper ...

. Ocean Terminal tram stop is an island platform located at the main entrance plaza.

Redevelopment

In 2018, the previous owners of the centre announced plans to rebrand the centre as ''Porta'', focusing on outlets and factory stores. These plans were dropped in June 2020 by the new owners, ICG Real Estate and Ambassador Group .

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

have approved plans for Phase One of a masterplan lodged by the centre’s owners that would see the northern section of the building demolished and a new frontage constructed, with retail units and public realm. The demolition work got underway in Spring 2024. Plans were submitted in November 2022 for Phase Two, which includes a large scale residential development, and received unanimous council approval in January 2024.

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 Edinburgh Trams stops