DOORS OPEN DAY – SPURTLESHIRE UNHINGED

Submitted by Editor on Sat, 15/09/2012 - 09:58

This year's Edinburgh Doors Open Day returns next weekend on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September. Organised by the Cockburn Association, it is every self-respecting nosey parker's chance to keek inside buildings where normally one requires more of an excuse to get in than idle curiosity.

Some 121 properties are participating (the full list is available in the file at the bottom of this page), but here we summarise those in or adjacent to Spurtleshire.

The Victorian Schoolroom
9 Brunswick Rd, Sat and Sun 10am–4pm
'It is of no architectural merit or significance,' but is rammed with the paraphernalia of Victorian education: wooden desks, slates, textbooks, tawses and attendance registers. Don't slouch.

Edinburgh Printmakers
23 Union Street, Sat 10am–6pm
The former washhouse (retaining its original chimney) now operates as a studio cum gallery. Guided tours of original features and new additions.

General Register House and New Register House
2 Princes Street and 3 West Register Street, Sat 10am–4.30pm
Neo-classical splendour by Adam and Matheson, housing national records, the Family History Centre, and the Court of the Lord Lyon. Gasp at the rotundas. Marvel at the shelf space. Thrill at the accumulated weight of history rendered accessible through careful archiving and meticulous preservation. Visitors may not access Facebook using the computers.
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St Andrew's House
Regent Road, Sat & Sun 10am–4pm
Combining Art Deco influences and authoritarianism, this home of the Scottish Government was built on the site of the Calton Jail, whose 'Death Cell' door is currently in a Grassmarket bar. Tours lasting 40 minutes must be booked in advance by emailing DoorsOpenDay@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Contact details, photo ID and proof of address will all be required. No photography inside. No turning-up on the off-chance. The words 'warm' and 'welcome' do not spring to mind. No smiling. No smart-arse comments. Nae muckin' aboot. STOP PRESS: All booked up, so you can't go anyway.

Burns Monument
Regent Road, Sat & Sun 11am–4pm
Based on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, this 1830 structure will appeal to people who like circular empty spaces with musicians in them. The statue of Robert Burns which which once sat in the middle (How did they get it in there?) was removed to the National Portrait Gallery. The structure overlooks the often overlooked New Calton Cemetery adjacent.
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The Steel House
3 Hart Street, Sat 2–6pm
A building which makes some people salivate with pleasure and others froth at the mouth in outrage, the controversy surrounding this 2002 home mostly concerns its appropriateness (or lack thereof) in a Georgian setting. Zone Architects will be present to answer questions. Bring a napkin.

Edinburgh Bahá'í Centre
44 Albany Street, Sat & Sun, 2–5pm
Members of the Bahá'í Faith – a monotheistic religion founded in 19th-century Persia – meet here with each other and adherents of other faiths to discuss community and spirituality. The Georgian building is, we understand, beautifully restored and sparsely furnished.
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Mansfield Traquair Centre and SCVO Offices
15 Mansfield Place, Sun 12–4pm
Robert Rowand Anderson's structure, built between 1873 and 1885, was designed as a kind of landing pad for the Catholic Apostolic Church, whose adherents expected Christ's return at any moment. As well as Phoebe Traquair's murals, visitors may visit the bowels of the building which now house the rather swish offices of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. A few years ago, these were occasionally troubled by an unmistakable but untraceable whiff of sewage.
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1 West Annandale Street
Sat 10am–4pm
At various times a laundry and sweetie shop, this 19th-century property was converted to residential use in 1984 and more recently refurbished to flood light and air into the basement. Spurtle has long wondered what lies behind the glass frontage.

Central Depot, Lothian Buses
55 Annandale Street, Sat 11.45am–4pm
If you fall asleep on a bus late at night, this is where you eventually end up. First built in 1922 as an exhibition hall, it has twice been extended and is now a vast, echoing cave full of images of Grant Stott. Prebooking for some activities is advised: www.lothianbuses.com

Ingleby Gallery
15 Calton Road, Sat 10am–4pm
The claustrophobic and cell-like lower ground floor is being opened up for one day, giving access to the private viewing room and library. Fuddy-duddy old traditionalists get sent here for correction.

Royal Botanic Garden, Herbarium and Library
20A Inverleith Row, Sat 10am–4pm
Books – it's got 'em. Preserved plant and fungi – look no further. Saddler's 1964 building (extended in 2005) has been described as 'a big but lightweight box made almost graceful by superimposed arcades' (Gifford et al.). It reminds this visitor of giraffes.

Lyon & Turnbull
33 Broughton Place, Sat & Sun 10am–4pm
The former Broughton Place Church and before that 'Dr Brown's Chapel' – more recently an architectural highlight in Chariots of Fire. Now an auction house.

Assembly Rooms
54 George Street, Sun 11am–4pm
Proper pukka, right? Grab some knackered 18th-century grandeur, splosh on a load of lovely high-tec stuff, blitz in a £9.3 million refurb, then stuff the cavity with a handful of shops and a posh nosherie. Simple. Bish, bash, bosh. Class.

Files

edinburgh_dod_2012_brochure3.pdf