Building a consensus

Proposals for a £75 million renovation of Edinburgh University’s Teviot Row House have quickly divided opinion.

The plans, which go on display today, include a modern extension set beside the existing Victorian building, a juxtaposition which has already been likened to wearing a kilt jacket with a tutu.

There’s no law of architecture that the old and modern cannot happily coalesce.

As Neil Baxter, secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, points out, the National Museum of Scotland extension was contentious at the start but is now generally well regarded.

Of course, Edinburgh University has form when it comes to eyewatering edifices.

While the designs of Sir Basil Spence were cutting-edge in the 1960s, his George Square library building is far from well-liked and nearby Appleton Tower has been the subjectof calls for demolition.

It’s perhaps too early to lump this new project in with mistakes of the past, but there’s still an opportunity to influence the design. Better to speak up now than complain when it’s already too late.