Robert Reid (8 November 1774 – 20 March 1856) was the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

from 1827 to 1839. He is responsible for a number of

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

particularly the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of Parliament Square in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, which houses the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

. Stylistically he was heavily influenced by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

, but Reid's style is more austere. The style is now seen as the main character of the northern (less altered) Edinburgh New Town and without Reid Edinburgh would today be a very different city. From 1802 to 1809 he assisted the much older William Sibbald in the design of the Second New Town in Edinburgh, largely being responsible for the facades. Reid also contributed to the layout of

Charlotte Square file:Charlotte Square - geograph.org.uk - 105918.jpg, 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

in the city following fellow architect

's death, constructing a home for himself there (No. 44) and completing the design for West Register House (formerly St George's Church). In 1802 he went on to contribute to the planning of the northern part of Edinburgh's

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

and in 1834 further revisited Adam's works in extending Register House. He was the last person to hold the title of " Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland" a title which died with his retiral. He helped to create its replacement, where responsibility fell to a group rather than an individual, the Scottish Office of Works, which was created in 1827. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

, Edinburgh. He has a large but simple monument against the southern wall.

Principal works

*The western (original) sections of the Scottish Law Courts (1804–1812) - eventually completed 1830–1840 following the destruction of the buildings to the east originally resistant to redevelopment in the Great Edinburgh Fire of 1824 *The

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

Head Office on the Mound (1802–06) (jointly with Richard Crichton - later altered) * St George's Church,

(1811–14) (later converted to West Register House) *

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Custom House (1811–12) *

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Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

(1803–07) *Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum, Morningside, Edinburgh (1809–10) (demolished) * Salutation Hotel, Perth (circa 1810) * HM Prison Perth (1810–12) *The library and picture gallery in Paxton House, Berwickshire (1812–13) *North wings of General Register House in Edinburgh (1822-1834) *

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

Gaol,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Ireland (1824–30) * Wick Town Hall (1825) *Repair and restoration of

Arbroath Abbey Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by William I of Scotland, King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecration, consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to th ...

(1835)

Edinburgh streets designed by Reid

*33-46

(1807–15) *Abercromby Place *Cumberland Street *Dublin Street *Dundas Street *Dundonald Street *Drummond Place *Fettes Row *Gloucester Place *Great King Street *Heriot Row *India Street *London Street *Mansfield Place *Nelson Street *Northumberland Street *Royal Crescent *Scotland Street File:Parliament House, Edinburgh.JPG, The Robert Reid designed facade of the Law Courts in Edinburgh's Parliament Square File:Signet Library ceiling.JPG, Ceiling of the Signet Library, Edinburgh File:Rose Terrace.jpg, The Old Academy, Perth File:Grave of Robert Reid, Dean Cemetery Edinburgh.JPG, Reid's grave in Edinburgh's Dean Cemetery

References

Incomplete list of works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Robert 1774 births Scottish architects 1856 deaths Scottish surveyors 19th-century Scottish people Burials at the Dean Cemetery