Riddle’s Court

Its grandeur when first built is evidenced by the fact that it was the town residence of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and later Lord Chancellor of Scotland, Alexander Seton and in 1598 played host to a grand banquet attended by King James VI and his wife Anne of Denmark. It became known as Riddle’s Court after 1726, when George Riddell purchased and reconstructed the part of the site facing the Lawnmarket.

Like many other properties in the Old Town, the status of Riddle’s Court declined during the late 18th century when its wealthy residents moved to the newly-built and more spacious New Town. In the 1830s, the southern-most parts of the building were demolished and its façade reconstructed to bring it in-line with the new Victoria Terrace, commissioned as part of the 1827 Edinburgh Improvement Act.

Further parts of the building were demolished in the 1890s by Patrick Geddes. Geddes was a true polymath – a biologist and sociologist as well as a philanthropist, educator and town planner. His work at Riddle’s Court was motivated by his principle of ‘conservative surgery’, which aimed to preserve the most historically significant parts of Old Town buildings by demolishing the more dilapidated parts, making what remained more hygienic and suitable for modern living. Patrick Geddes converted the main part of Riddle’s Court into one of Edinburgh’s first student halls of residence. His motto ‘Vivendo Discimus’, ‘By Living We Learn’, remains carved over the entrance to the inner courtyard, a sign of how his educational philosophy continues to influence the use of the building and SHBT’s wider approach to learning.

Geddes’s attempts to rejuvenate Riddle’s Court were short-lived, and during the early 20th century the building reverted to its use as small, private dwellings. In 1946, the site was purchased by City of Edinburgh Council who oversaw its renovation in the 1960s and discovered the medieval painted ceiling in the north block. From 1951, Riddle’s Court became a regular venue of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in 1973, the headquarters of the Workers Educational Association.

In 2005, as the building once again fell into disrepair, the WEA sought to raise awareness of its plight and historical importance. Their call was answered by SHBT, who in 2008 completed a Feasibility Study for the building and were subsequently granted a 99-year lease by City of Edinburgh Council in order to restore the building and oversee its subsequent use.

LDN Architects led the Design Team with John Dennis appointed as Main Contractor and on-site works began in 2015. Large quantities of cement render, installed in the 1960s, were removed from the exterior and the building was re-harled in a traditional lime mortar. Inside, the discovery of additional 16^th-century painted beams and a huge medieval fireplace necessitated further re-planning.

The many historic ceilings were painstakingly restored and their surrounding rooms either modernised or restored depending on the individual circumstances. For instance, the 19th-century panelling in the Geddes Room was painted to look as it would have done when used as the students’ dining room in the 1890s, a decorative choice consistent with its painted ceiling of 1897. In contrast, the newly named ‘King’s Chamber’, with its colourful late-16th-century board and beam ceiling, was reimagined as one of the most characterful bedrooms in Edinburgh and the centrepiece of a unique holiday-let. At the heart of the building, a light-filled lobby space with a new glass elevator and matching glass roof was created, which looked towards the building’s future even as its 400-year history was revealed on the surrounding walls.