Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Top Tip
›
The website
www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk
is crammed with useful info, including guided
architectural walking tours.
Best Modern Architecture
Scottish Parliament Building
Ambitious, controversial and way over budget; the most
exciting example of modern architecture in Scotland. (
Click here
)
National Museum of Scotland
The museum's golden sandstone lines create echoes of
castles, churches, gardens and cliffs. (
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)
Scottish Poetry Library
Award-winning building, cleverly insinuated into a cramped
space in an Old Town alley. (
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)
Front Range
The designer glasshouses in Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, built in
1967, are included in
Prospect
magazine's Top 100 Modern Scottish Buildings. (
Click
Best Neoclassical Architecture
Charlotte Square
The elegantly proportioned Adam facade on the square's north side is
the jewel in the New Town's architectural crown. (
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)
Royal Scottish Academy
Recently stone-cleaned, this imposing William Playfair− de-
signed Doric temple dominates the centre of Princes St. (
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)
Dundas House
Gorgeous Palladian mansion that now houses a bank; pop into the main
hall for a look at the dome, painted blue and studded with glazed stars. (
Click here
)
Best Early Architecture
George Heriot's School
Imposing renaissance building (1628−1650), funded by George
Heriot (nicknamed Jinglin' Geordie), goldsmith and jeweller to King James VI. (
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Parliament Hall
Dating from 1639, this grandiose hall has a majestic hammer-beam roof,
and was home to the Scottish Parliament until the 1707 Act of Union. (
Click here
)
