Edinburgh Futures Institute

Education

A place for the brightest minds to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society in the future – in an Edinburgh landmark that reveals its past with wit and pride.

Project Details

Edinburgh

Location
University of Edinburgh

Client
21,000 m2

Area
£120 million

Value
2023

Completion

Carbon Data

Upfront Carbon (A1-A5) Total

362 kgCO₂e/m²
Sequestered Carbon

-31 kgCO₂e/m²
UK NZCBS Limit

529 kgCO₂e/m²

The Edinburgh Futures Institute is based in the Old Royal Infirmary, a Category A-listed Victorian hospital in the centre of Edinburgh, which was purchased by the University of Edinburgh in 2015. Our role was to take the building from dereliction to create a radically collaborative space for learning and research.

The fabric of the building has been carefully restored, with unsympathetic extensions removed, dry rot repaired and key architectural features reinstated. New accommodation and pavilions are interwoven alongside the original wards and the great 150-metre-long corridors. These provide the circulation framework to encourage chance encounters and informal social learning.

The original clocktower entrance has been reopened, now framed by a public plaza – discreetly under its stone lies a vast 450-seat event space. Flexible teaching, co-working and project areas are spread across five floors and include specialist facilities, such as digital maker spaces and exhibition zones. Bold colours guide wayfinding internally, while outside, the courtyards, gardens and cafés invite students and the wider public into the site.

By recycling a hospital to create the new Institute, the embodied carbon emissions are well below half that in a typical new build. Operational carbon is reduced through connection to the University’s central plant and fabric upgrades.