Scott's school to be climate change centre

Published on Tuesday 6 October 2009 00:28

THE former Edinburgh school where Sir Walter Scott was taught is to be turned into a major climate-change centre.

The old Royal High School, off the Cowgate, will become home to the world-leading research and study complex by 2012 under plans by Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt universities.

It is hoped the centre will effectively become the national hub of efforts to tackle climate change, hosting seminars, conferences and exhibitions, and inspiring future generations of students.

Award-winning architect Malcolm Fraser's Edinburgh practice has won a design competition to carry out one of Scotland's most eco-friendly transformations of a centuries-old building.

Edinburgh-born Scott was a pupil at the school when it used the building, between 1777 and 1829. Others taught there included the barrister and conservationist Henry Cockburn, and lawyer and inventor Henry Brougham, who created the four-wheel horse-drawn carriage.

One of the headmasters at the school, James Pillans, invented the blackboard and coloured chalks as aids to teaching geography.

The 3.3 million climate change project will involve the complete refurbishment and expansion of the building, on Infirmary Street, which houses Edinburgh University's department of archaeology.

It will also involve an overhaul of the adjacent Surgeon's Square, beside a former hospital building.

It was there that Dr Robert Knox carried out his infamous anatomy classes, which inspired serial killers Burke and Hare.

Andy Kerr, director of the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society, based at Edinburgh University, said: "There's been a need for some time to ensure universities, research centres and other organisations are more joined up in their approach to climate change. Nothing like this exists anywhere in Scotland."

A spokesman for Malcolm Fraser Architects said: "Our ambition is to provide an appropriate and inspiring environment in which to teach, research, discuss and communicate the challenges of climate change."