New Building, Medical School, University Of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh

New Building, Medical School, University Of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh

Designed by Sir Rowand Anderson in 1874 and built between 1876 and 1886, this is an extensive purpose-built university building complex of Grade A importance. The building comprises three storeys with a basement, arranged in a double quadrant plan, and is prominently sited on a main thoroughfare. It is designed in the style of 15th-century Italian Renaissance architecture with fine decorative detailing throughout.

The complex presents a 17-bay elevation to the north facing Teviot Place and a longer elevation to the west facing Middle Meadow Walk. These elevations are composed of advancing squared and circular sections, both linked by a 4-storey, 2-bay campanile tower at the north-west corner. The rectangular main northern quadrant features decorative elevations and is accessed through an arch to Teviot Place, with a decorative wall to a ramp leading down to a covered vaulted entrance to the west and an open pend to the south-east corner leading to Park Place. The secondary quadrant to the south is plainer in character and serves service functions.

The principal exterior material is squared ashlar with fine carved detailing. Coursed rubble, brick and glazed brick are used to the service areas, with red concrete balustrades. The ground floor is channelled; the first floor features a cill cornice; the second floor incorporates a frieze with circle motifs and a dentil cornice; and deep overhanging bracketed eaves run across all elevations.

The north elevation is symmetrical across 15 bays. A central arched entrance pend features columns and ornate stone-carved barrel vault ceiling beneath a balconied aedicule surmounted by a large segmental wallhead pediment. The ground floor is channelled with corner bracketed square windows. The first floor has arched windows, and the second floor displays a continuous round-arched pilastrade with recessed windows. The main elevation is flanked to the left by the campanile tower of McEwan Hall and to the right by an advanced squared, 4-storey, 2-bay corner tower. A balustrated wall to the basement area includes lamp standards flanking the pend.

The west elevation steps forward in sections toward the south-west corner: a 2-bay, 4-storey corner tower to the outer left, a 4-bay squared section with a small curved quadrant at ground level, a larger 6-bay section to the centre with a projecting central curved bay housing a lecture theatre, and a squared 3-bay section to the far right. The detailing mirrors that of the north elevation, with irregular capitalised and hoodmoulded openings and heraldry to the curved section.

The east elevation comprises 13 bays arranged 3-7-3. The central recessed lower bays are set beneath overhanging first-floor round-arched windows carried on large console-bracketed arcades. The second floor features hoodmoulded windows with circular pediments and columns to bi-partite openings. A capitalised and columned niche houses a bronze sculpture of Archbishop Tait by Mario Raggi, dated 1885.

The south elevation is plain, comprising 10 bays across three storeys with an irregular fenestration pattern. A 3-bay, 4-storey finely detailed tower projects to the right. An archway and brick tunnel entrance provide access to the south quadrant. An exterior timber-panelled and glazed walkway on iron brackets links to the building to the south-east.

Within the main northern quadrant, the north side detailing matches that of Teviot Place, with an entrance pend bay positioned off-centre to the right, and six further bays within a light well to the rear of McEwan Hall. The west side is symmetrical, featuring a 6-window round-arched colonnade to the upper floor flanked by small pedimented windows. The east side is asymmetrical, with a taller 5-bay section to the left and a lower 3-bay section to the right linked by a fine dome-capped stair tower. The south side is irregular across 11 bays with round arches on engaged pilasters dividing six bays to the right, which formerly housed the anatomical museum. A curved quadrant wall with lamp standards completes this quadrant.

The rear southern quadrant features irregular elevations of 4 and 5 storeys with multi-style window openings in coursed rubble. A small corbelled turreted stair tower sits at the north-west corner. The curved exterior wall of the anatomy lecture theatre on the east side of the quadrant is buttressed in brick. A smaller, later, part-curved and rendered stair tower stands to the west side.

The roofs feature shallow pitch red tiles to the principal elevations and slate roofs elsewhere. Large squared corniced ridge stacks are present throughout. The windows are a mixture of timber and metal multi-pane designs.

The interior preserves extensive bespoke decorative schemes from the 1870s in main areas, including stone-columned groin-vaulted halls, lecture theatres, period doors, windows and corridor detailing. The groin-vaulted stone entrance hall on the south side of the main northern quadrant features rounded columns and an ornate cast-iron internal gateway to the corridor, with a pedimented entrance leading to the former Anatomical Museum, now subdivided to single storey. Some original desks and fitted timber display cabinets remain in the museum. A Skull Room with timber panelling is present but was not accessed during the survey. A square-plan lecture theatre to the top floor of the east elevation remains unused and in an unaltered state. The anatomy lecture theatre features a steeply raked curved plan.

Decorative cornicing and panelling are present to larger spaces and lecture rooms, with plain cornicing, timber boarding and some fitted cupboards to offices. Fifteen-panel internal doors are typical throughout. Arched openings serve corridors and stair doors. Broad cast-iron riveted stairs with plain railings and riveted cast-iron roof trusses support the top-floor laboratories. A timber-clad former artist's room occupies the roof of the southern quadrant.

Later alterations dating to circa 1970 and the early 21st century have included some mezzanine floors to create additional office accommodation.

The boundary walls comprise dwarf ashlar with plain squared capital gatepiers and plain railings forming the west boundary to Middle Meadow Walk.