Icehouse, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton Estate is a Grade C listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 30 January 1981. Icehouse.

Icehouse, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton Estate

WRENN ID
half-flagstone-holly
Grade
C
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh South West MP: Dr Scott Arthur (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
30 January 1981
Type
Icehouse
OS grid reference
NT 174 692
Coordinates
55.90935, -3.32154
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The icehouse at Heriot-Watt University, located on the Riccarton Estate, dates back to the early 18th century. It is situated within the wooded campus of the university, near the eastern bank of a former burn. This circular, domed subterranean structure is now overgrown and constructed from sandstone rubble masonry with droved margins. The entrance is found in the north-facing chamber.

Inside, the icehouse features an egg-shaped section with a domical vault, measuring 5 meters in diameter and 8 meters in height.

Local climate

Icehouse, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton Estate sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 78% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 47 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 89% of listed buildings. Of these, 28 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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