My Favourite Edinburgh University Buildings

It was officially opened in 1889 and you can bet that since then every University of Edinburgh student have been there many times. Nowadays, Teviot is run by the EUSA (the Edinburgh University Student Association) and it hosts many events throughout the year. There are plenty of various reasons why students visit this impressive building resembling a gothic castle. Teviot is divided into many rooms and each has its unique atmosphere. These include 8 bars serving nice food and drinks on student discounts; namely Library bar, Sports bar or New Amphion. Moreover, there are meeting rooms where university academic events take place and rooms that can be booked by university societies. To sum up, students and university staff can go to Teviot for fresher’s ball during the first week in Edinburgh, to have fun, study or for society meeting and at last but not least for graduation ball.

St Leonard’s Hall

St Leonard’s Hall was built in 1869 in the Scottish Baronial style. Today, it is a centre of the university accommodation complex Pollock Halls. It is home to the administrative offices of The University of Edinburgh Accommodation Services and it hosts various conferences. I fell in love with this tiny castle last year, when I stayed in the uni accommodation. I was passing around the St Leonard’s Hall every day on my way home and I experienced its amazing atmosphere during a Grant House (the house I stayed in) Scottish ball which was held there.

University of Edinburgh Main Library

The Main Library is a huge 8 floors building designed to look like a bookcase. It is one of the largest academic libraries in Europe and it holds the primary collections in arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, medicine and informatics. Its equipment is very modern and it is great for group as well as individual studying. One, maybe unexpected, thing that I really like about the Main Library is that it is always really warm inside. Public places in Edinburgh are often not very well heated and the majority of student flats, including mine, are so badly insulated that it is not even possible to heat them up. Therefore, I can really appreciate the temperature above 17 °C like in the Main Library.

Michael Swann Building

Michael Swann Building is quite new and modern. It is found in the King’s Buildings complex, the main centre of the College of Science and Engineering. It is probably less well known than other buildings I was talking about but as a biological sciences student you would spend there the majority of time. Many of my lectures and tutorials are held in the Michael Swann Building. Moreover, it is a centre of cell biology and is full of excellently equipped laboratories. My favourite place in the Michael Swann Building is a cafe in seventh floor which offers not only nice food but also unusual view on the city of Edinburgh.