8 Architects Who Shaped Edinburgh

Renowned for his neo-classical style, Rhind designed numerous buildings for local government and churches, including Daniel Stewart’s Hospital, now better known as the esteemed Stewart Melville’s College. His masterpiece is one of the greatest buildings on George Street – The Dome. On the original site of the Royal College of Physicians, it was built in 1847 initially as the headquarters for the Commercial Bank of Scotland. Its distinctive domed form and elegant Grecian column facade give it a timeless appearance which complements the surrounding Georgian buildings. Rhind’s Dome is now a bar, restaurant and nightclub, famed for its afternoon tea and luxurious food – synonymous with the extravagant George Street.

Stewart Melville’s College, Queensferry Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 311 1000

The Dome, 14 George Street, Newtown, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 624 8624

Blanc studied under David Rhind, but it was his time at the School of Art and Design that developed his unique interest in medieval architecture. This gothic style pervades his work – most notably the Argyll Tower and Portcullis on Edinburgh Castle, a restoration project he undertook in 1886 which stands as the iconic entrance today. His many churches, including the stunning Christ Episcopal Church in Bruntsfield, exhibit his fascination with the medieval and lend many of his works in Edinburgh their old-world charm.

Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 225 9846

Christ Episcopal Church, 6a Morningside Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 229 0090

Son of James Playfair, who designed Melville Castle, William Henry Playfair was one of the most prolific architects of his day. Playfair is the mastermind behind Edinburgh’s famous Calton Hill. Designing Royal, Carlton, and Regent Terrace, Playfair secured the hill a prominent status with his beautiful Georgian townhouses. The hill itself is compromised of various monuments and neo-classical buildings, including the City Observatory, the Dugald Steward Monument, and the never-finished National Monument, a Napoleonic war memorial. The latter, intended to be a replica of the Parthenon as part of Edinburgh’s pairing with Athens, ran out of funding and remained incomplete. Playfair’s design in Edinburgh extended along Princes Street too, with the construction of the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish Academy: the 2004 ‘Playfair Project’ saw these two beautiful buildings connected with an underground passage.

Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 529 7061

National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, UK, 0131 624 6200

The Royal Scottish Academy, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 225 6671

Architecture was a family business for Robert Adam: both his brother and father were architects, from whom he learnt his craft and worked with over the years. The Adam Brothers’ first joint venture was the completion of Hopetoun House in the Edinburgh burgh of South Queensferry, which their father had begun. Most notably in Edinburgh, Adam was responsible for the Old College at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Exchange, which he worked on with his brother. It is not so much the buildings themselves as much as the ‘Adam style’ which he created that is his legacy. Rejecting the classical Palladian style brought to Britain by Inigo Jones, Adam played on the grotesque in Roman antiquity and incorporated concepts of the Rococo style, focusing on the ‘movement’ of architecture by contrasting form and structure.

Hopetoun House, Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 0131 331 2451

Old College at the University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Scottish architect James Craig is arguably responsible for the Edinburgh New Town that we know and love today. The idea of a ‘New Town’ was proposed in the 1700s, when Edinburgh’s medieval old town was becoming over populated – Craig took on the project in the 1770s. Whilst Craig did not design the buildings in the New Town, he developed the layout still used today, creating Princes Street, George Street, and Queens Street, as well as Charlotte and St Andrews Square at each end. This simple but highly functional layout remains today. Craig had also originally planned to have a central circus in the middle of George Street, the only part of his plan that was never followed through.