The structure on the edge of Leith Walk stands amid what was once the Shrubhill tramway depot, which housed the eponymous power station and associated workshops and maintenance facilities. The surviving buildings have since been redeveloped as an apartment complex known as the Rail Yard, sporting a couple of sections of old tram track as a reminder of its heritage.
The site was originally opened to support the cable-trams that plied this part of Edinburgh (similar to those still in use in San Francisco). It was later upgraded when the vehicles became electrically powered. In addition to the power facilities the site boasted period sheds where trams were upgraded, maintained and stabled. The site was converted to a bus depot in 1956 when Edinburgh’s last trams were withdrawn. It later enjoyed a brief spell as a local transport museum before falling into dereliction in the 1980s. After many years of abandonment the site is now a residential complex incorporating both modern and period buildings.
A National Transport Trust plaque states: “Opened 1898 to service Edinburgh Corporation’s cable-trams. Converted 1922 to build, power and maintain electric trams until 1956.”