A residential girls school in the centre of Stirling could be turned into the city’s first ‘aparthotel’.
Kaas Ventures Ltd have submitted planning and listed building applications to Stirling Council for alterations and a change of use of C-listed Snowdon House in Spittal Street.
The plans are for a 20-bed aparthotel, including 12 bedrooms in the existing curtilage of the building and a further eight in a proposed new building extension, plus alterations to a vehicular access, new parking and landscaping.
Most recently, Snowdon has been a residential special school for girls aged 12 to 17 referred by local authorities, social work departments and others.
In documents submitted with the planning application, agents said: “Number 31 Spittal Street is an impressive two part stone building, with multiple pitched slate roofs, and with a more modern single storey extension to the rear. The building was listed in 1978 as Category C.
“Previously used for educational purposes, the Ragged or Industrial School was originally built in 1855.
“In the 1920s, the building was renamed as Snowdon School, an Approved School introduced by the Children and Young Persons Act. It was more recently used as a residential school for girls before that closed a few years ago.
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“The building is now empty and in dire need of repair, refurbishment and reuse.
“The new aparthotel proposed will complement existing tourist facilities, and the more traditional hotels located in the area. It will provide units varying in size to be used by young people, the retired, families, and the disabled, offering them costeffective, self-catering, accommodation in the heart of the city centre. The design has not been developed to maximise the number of rooms, but to create a range and variety of accommodation.
“The building ranges from single rooms to a feature mezzanine apartment with three bedrooms for a larger group of travellers to share. All apartments have en-suite facilities, mini kitchen zones, storage and easy furniture for the larger spaces.
“Additionally, there would be a small gymnasium, and shared area for information, and vending machines for hirers.
“At least one of the apartments will be fully disabled and wheelchair accessible, with its own entrance from the courtyard and accessible parking.
“It is intended to maintain the existing frontage as far as possible, as this contributes to the setting of the building. There will though be a need to do some remodelling to allow better vehicular access, including re-positioning a gatepost, the removal of the overgrown hedge to improve visibility, and provide any required visibility splays, and changes to the gradient of the existing driveway.”
In their business case, the applicants say there are currently no other aparthotels in Stirling and the council and others are trying to encourage visitors to say longer and make Stirling their Central Scotland base rather than basing themselves in the likes of Edinburgh.
They added: “The aparthotel market in the UK has been growing rapidly in recent years. Aparthotels are a type of accommodation that combines the amenities of a hotel with the comfort and convenience of a serviced apartment. They offer guests more space, privacy, and flexibility than traditional hotel rooms, making them popular with business travellers, families, and leisure tourists alike.
“There is considerable developer appetite for hotel and mixed use proposals including hotels in Stirling. However, these remain under review and it is not known as and when these will come to fruition. The proposed development is by an active investor who seeks to develop as soon as the status of the planning decision is known.
“The proposed development will inject an additional £535,000 in offsite tourism spend into the Stirling tourism economy on an annual basis...and is estimated to create 19 net additional job opportunities across the Stirling economy.”
