Bristo Square,

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 ...

, Scotland, is a public space on the estate of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. It lies in the south of the city, between

George IV Bridge George IV Bridge is an Viaduct, elevated street in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is home to a number of the city's important public buildings. History A bridge connecting the High Street to the south was first suggested in 1817, but was origina ...

and

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

. The most prominent landmark on the square is the

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McEwan Hall McEwan Hall () is the graduation hall of the University of Edinburgh, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Designed by architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, it was funded by philanthropist William McEwan at a total cost of £115,000 (approx. £ today). Co ...

, in which the university holds its graduation ceremonies. Other notable buildings on the square include the Dugald Stewart Building, the

Informatics Forum The Informatics Forum is a major building on the Central Area campus of the University of Edinburgh. Completed in 2008, it houses the research institutes of the university's School of Informatics. Design The Forum is designed by Bennetts Asso ...

, Potterrow Student Centre, Reid Concert Hall, and Teviot Row House.

History

The square officially opened in 1983 to mark the university's quartercentenary. The square was designed by the architectural practice headed by Professor Percy Johnson-Marshall (1915–1993) who held the chair of urban design and regional planning at the university. It was originally designed as part of the 1962 plan to create a civic space to replace Bristo Street, realigning Potterrow and Lothian Street in the process. The consulting engineers were Jamieson, MacKay & Partners. There is a plaque to the local educational campaigner Mary Crudelius in Bristo Square.

Redevelopment

In 2013 the

announced plans to invest £35M on improvements to the

and the Bristo Square area. Designed by LDN and

Buro Happold Buro Happold Limited (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the env ...

this scheme is designed to restore the A listed Robert Rowan Anderson building to its former glory whilst enhancing accessibility and increasing capacity by adding in basement seminar rooms. The redevelopment of this square started in April 2015 and was completed in time for the July 2017 graduations. As part of the redevelopment, a new artwork "The Next Big Thing...is a Series of Little Things", by Susan Collis has been installed b
Powderhall Bronze Foundry
The artwork takes the form of a series of bronze circular shapes which runs as a series of drips from McEwan Hall entrance across the square. File:Bristo Square.JPG, Bristo Square prior to redevelopment File:Bristo Square redevelopment, University of Edinburgh (May 2015).jpg, Bristo Square redevelopment underway May 2015 File:Bristo Square looking towards 7 Bristo Square (March 2013).jpg, Bristo Square prior to the 2015 redevelopment work. This view shows 7 Bristo Square by the Modernist architects Robert Steedman (b. 1929) and James Morris (1931-2006).

Recreational and Edinburgh Festival Fringe use

The square is frequently used by traceurs,

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s, rollerbladers and

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ers for recreational purposes. It has been said to be a “breeding ground for skaters”, however with the redevelopment work this ceased at the end of March 2015 until the square reopened in summer 2017. It had become customary over the summer months for University of Edinburgh to rent the square to the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

for shows and stages. The square was home to the udderBELLY for the several years until 2014. The Udderbelly purple cow tent has since moved to the university's George Square gardens.

References

{{Streets and Squares in Edinburgh, state=collapsed Streets in Edinburgh Squares in Edinburgh University of Edinburgh 20th-century establishments in Scotland