Enlightened crusade to save Adam Smith's home

• Adam Smith lived in the house with his mother for 12 years

The fate of the building, where philosopher and economist Adam Smith lived with his mother for 12 years before his death in 1790, hangs in the balance after restoration plans were called in by the Scottish Government.

Now economic think tank the Adam Smith Institute, which has led efforts to improve the final resting place of "the father of the Enlightenment" and create an imposing statue on the Royal Mile, has thrown its weight behind proposals to bring the neglected building back into use.

Dating back to 1691, when it was built for the Earl of Panmure, the house was saved for the nation three years ago after being bought from its then owners, Edinburgh City Council, by Heriot-Watt University's business school.

The Adam Smith Institute helped rally worldwide support for the university's bid to buy the building and thwart attempts to renovate it as a private home or restaurant.

However, the university's scheme to turn Panmure House into an international business research, conference and study centre, including a new home for an Adam Smith archive, has been dogged by controversy, as this involves a glass-box atrium creating a major new entrance way into the building.

Critics - including Historic Scotland, Edinburgh World Heritage and the city council's planning officials - believe the modern extension is inappropriate for the A-listed building, described as a "fine survivor of grander domestic architecture of the period".

Councillors rejected the advice of their own officers to approve the 3 million scheme last year - only for the plans to be called in several months later.

Dr Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, praised the "imaginative" and "ingenious" plans for the building, which he said would safeguard its future.

Speaking ahead of an inquiry into the university's plans in March, Dr Butler said enthusiasts had complained for years about the lack of access to Panmure House and Smith's final resting place.

Dr Butler said: "Panmure House remains a sorry sight, inside and out.

"We believe that the present owners have found an excellent and appropriate set of uses for Panmure House, and that the proposed external access is an ingenious solution to the problems of adapting it. Accordingly, we - and I am certainly sure the many thousands of Adam Smith enthusiasts worldwide - strongly believe that the proposals should go ahead."

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "The atrium and stair would affect the character and special interest of this building to an unacceptable degree."