Planning permission has been granted to build a new £6m hotel near Edinburgh Airport, designed by architects Lawrence McPherson Associates.

The hotel at Forth Park Business Park in Newbridge has been designed for Whitbread PLC owned hotel brand, Premier Inn, and will have 119 bedrooms and a restaurant.

It is one of three Premier Inns designed by Lawrence McPherson Associates to have won planning permission in the last few weeks - the others are a 40 bed hotel and restaurant in Irvine and a 60 bed hotel and restaurant at Lomondgate in Strathleven in Dumbartonshire.

Stuart McPherson, one of the partners at Lawrence McPherson Associates, said the new hotel at Newbridge would help address the shortage of hotel rooms in the Edinburgh area, particularly near the airport.


"We are delighted to be working closely with Whitbread as they extend their portfolio of hotels in key business locations across Scotland,"he added.

The Newbridge hotel which will be located on a prominent gateway site, visible from the M9, has been designed in a contemporary architectural style with a v-shaped 'gull wing' roof, white render front and buff facing brick.

The hotel will be ready for its first guests at the end of 2009. Premier Inn is the UK's largest and fastest growing hotel business with hotels over 480 locations across the country. It plans to reach 45,000 rooms in the UK by 2010.

Founded in 1994, Lawrence McPherson Associates has offices in Ayr and Musselburgh, Scotland. The Practice is the biggest architectural and town planning Practice in Ayrshire.

Current projects for The Practice include numerous hotel and restaurant developments throughout Scotland, several large housing developments throughout Central Scotland for both national housebuilding companies and Housing Associations, together with several important healthcare projects including the completion of the masterplan for the new Irvine Community Hospital. The Practice also provides planning advice on a wide range of development issues across Scotland.

(GK/JM)