One of Edinburgh’s most enduring nightclubs is to close its doors.

Student club Silk, on King’s Stable Road, will shut on January 27, as part of the redevelopment of the area – ironically making way for student housing.

The building has had many guises over more than 20 years, known as Gaia and Stereo before its current incarnation.

It was also the Jaffa Cake in the mid-late 1990s, often hosting alternatives to the regular festival fare in August – including a Mogwai / Delgados / Urusei Yatsura triple-header, Michael Nyman along with The Divine Comedy, and around that same era (pictured), a rare appearance by Krautrock legends Faust.

The Flux festival – an offshoot of London’s Meltdown – was partly housed at the Jaffa Cake, and also brought PJ Harvey, Yo La Tengo, Nectarine No 9 and the Jesus and Mary Chain to town, before Edinburgh Council reportedly pulled the rug from under that event, “They acted like dodgy nightclub owners,” according to organiser David Sefton.

The current management said on the club’s Facebook page: “From its inception back in 1997 as the Jaffacake (followed by Gaia in 1999, Stereo in 2005 and of course from 2011 onwards, as Silk) we have always tried to encompass the very best in student friendly mainstream entertainment; winning countless awards for design, music and – perhaps most significantly – for repeatedly being the capitals safest nightclub too.

“The irony therefore is that the Capital of Scotland is losing yet another young people venue, to make way for a student accommodation development.

“Perhaps once the city is devoid of all nightlife and young people stop choosing Edinburgh to study/live/work, the powers that be will finally understand the essential contribution venues like ours make to the cities overall appeal.

“Anyway, if you are one of the countless people that have worked with us, or you are one of the hundreds of thousands of customers we have entertained, please accept our sincerest thanks for the memories and for your unflinching loyalty.

“We are truly grateful to have danced, sang, laughed and drank a little (okay, maybe more than a little) with each and every one of you! Hopefully we will see as many of you as possible partying like a rock star with us over the next 3 weeks until we finally call it a day on Saturday the 27th of January.”