The Holyrood Project was developed to meet an unprecedented demand for postgraduate and overseas students travelling to study at the University of Edinburgh. This demand was conceived to be met through a unique, locally sensitive and historically contextual response that is of global significance.

Taking inspiration from the adjacent volcanic landscape of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags, the palette of materials, both underfoot and on buildings, is informed by both the immediate context and the desire to create this unique new urban landscape. The work of James Hutton, regarding the Salisbury Crags, a unifying concept of geology and geomorphology is played out across various public realm elements giving the site its own identity within the wider Old Town context. These linked elements include drainage, paving, seating and wall details. The historic boundary wall on Holyrood Road acts as the public face of this identity by reusing existing stone into a contemporary site boundary.