Edinburgh locals are divided over a modern architectural addition to an Old Town church in the city centre with some praising the metallic building while others have slammed it.
A new addition to St Leonard's has popped up recently which has caused controversy among locals who are in two minds over the shiny modern building which is slotted between a historic 1912 church and old hospital dating from 1892 .
Kirk O Field Parish church closed in 2013, but since 2016 has remained in use as the Greyfriars Charteris Centre, a community centre as part of the mission outreach of Greyfriars Kirk.
It is the Greyfriars Charteris Centre that crowdfunded for the extension to the centre that was completed earlier this year.
The redevelopment is to make the centre accessible for all users and was intended to have a contemporary style after consulting with architects as they said trying to replicate old building's can look cheap.
However the new addition has already received backlash online with locals branding it "f****** hideous" and "A crime against beauty."
The tweet was shared captioned: "A lovely contemporary addition to an Edinburgh street (still far too rare a thing…)"
The post has stirred up over 500 likes and 200 shares with many likening the new building to items such as an air conditioning unit, port a loo, and a cheese grater.
John Shields said: "Nothing says 'sensitive addition to an historic town centre' better than a corrugated iron/cheese grater-effect stack of taupe coloured shipping containers.
"To those who go accuse me of not having studied architecture sufficiently to appreciate this building, I can reply that I do have a master's degree in waste management.
"So whilst architecture isn't a specialism of mine, I *am* qualified to recognise recycled rubbish."
Joe Gesualdo exclaimed: "This is an atrocity."
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Gary Macmillan says: "That is horrific, honestly they have stuck a three-storey shed in the gap."
While Dominic Jones added: "I can't tell if this is serious or not. It looks like three shipping containers got wedged between those buildings."
But other users disagreed.
David Walker said: "I like it, a lot. A subtle intervention, beautifully executed. I personally find the older buildings, either side, to be very ordinary. Old, but unremarkable."
A spokesperson for the Greyfriars Charter Centre told Edinburgh Live: "The centre will be opening in the new year but it isn't quite finished yet. It's mostly made from wood and glass and has cost £2 million but again it's not finished yet.
"We did consult the community council and received an overwhelmingly good response with 38 positive notes and only one objection.
"There are 1000 people using it a week and they are all very supportive. The canopy up just now is hiding a lift which is to make the centre more accessible.
"All the work being done is to make the centre accessible for everyone as that is the most important thing. We were told when consulting about the redevelopment that new buildings shouldn't replicate the old ones as it looks tacky.
"It's better to create something new with aspects of the old buildings."
