King's Buildings

The King's Buildings (colloquially known as just King's or KB) is a campus of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Located in the suburb of Blackford, the site contains most of the schools within the College of Science and Engineering, excepting only the School of Informatics and part of the School of Geosciences, which are located at the central George Square campus. The campus lies south of West Mains Road, west of Mayfield Road and east of Blackford Hill, about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of George Square.[1] Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS) also have facilities there.

View of King's Buildings from the Braid Hills

History
Paolozzi statue at King's Buildings

In 1919 Edinburgh University bought the land of West Mains Farm in the south of the city with the intention of building a satellite campus specialising in the Sciences. The first building was the Chemistry Building (renamed the Joseph Black Building) designed by Arthur Forman Balfour Paul in 1919.[2] Building started in 1920 and was completed after 1924 by John Fraser Matthew. This was followed by the Zoology Building (renamed the Ashworth Laboratories) dating from 1929, also by Matthew.

The name "King's Buildings" is a reference to then-king George V.

During World War II, the Genetics Institute part of King's Buildings was used as the location for the first War Office Selection Board.[3]

University of Edinburgh celebrated more than 100 years of the site in 2021 with their KB101 campaign which included a lecture series[4] and newly commissioned artworks by Katie Paterson.[5]

Street and building names
Marion Ross Road sign
Marion Ross Road sign

All the campus properties shared one of two addresses until, in 2014, the University approached the City of Edinburgh Council, as the road naming authority, with a request to name all the individual roads within the campus to honour famous scientists and mathematicians associated with the University. When the proposed changes were discussed in City of Edinburgh Development Management Sub-Committee, it was pointed out that some of the names were overly long and cumbersome. Two of the proposed names were rejected as unsuitable as Christina Miller was deemed to be too similar sounding to Christie Miller, who already appears in three street names; and Robert Edwards did not meet the Council’s 10-year waiting period for deceased people. The University eventually substituted Marion Ross Road for Christina Miller Road and James Dewar Road for Robert Edwards Road.[6]

The final agreed street system was:

Statues at Kings Buildings
Statues at Kings Buildings
New KB Nucleus phase 1 Building
New KB Nucleus Phase 1 Building

Buildings
James Clerk Maxwell Building
The Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library
Christina Miller Building
Sanderson Building (Engineering)
Scottish Microelectronics Centre

Building names at KB reflect the spectrum of British science:

Darwin Building in 1967

On 5 August 2014, FloWave TT[10] was inaugurated by Amber Rudd, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. The FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility is a world-unique, 25-metre (82 ft) diameter wave and current tank primarily focused on testing marine energy technologies and projects.

In 2019 the data centre in the James Clerk Maxwell Building was named in honour of Mary Somerville[11] and in 2020 the IT skills training room was named in honour of Xia Peisu.

Other facilities
  • King's Buildings House, also known as KB House, is the student union at King's Buildings, run by Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA). The Mayfield Bar and Blackford Lounge serve hot food and drinks on the ground floor, along with the KB House Shop and a games room. A full servery, Common Room and Kitchen, can be found upstairs, serving a wider variety of hot food. The union is also home to The Advice Place student advisory service and KB Gym, which includes two badminton and two squash courts.
  • KB Centre Shop is another EUSA-run shop, located in the KB Centre. The store stocks convenience products, alongside hot drinks, made-to-order sandwiches and hot food to take away.[12]
  • Cafés include The Magnet Café in the James Clerk Maxwell Building, KB Café in the Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library, Upstairs Café in the Swann Building, XY Café in the Roger Land Building, Brucks Café in the Mary Bruck building, and The Eng Inn in the Hudson Beare Building.[13]

King's Buildings 5 Mile Road Race

The KB 5 Road Race is organised every year by the Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds Running Club.[14] It is usually held in late February or early March. The race starts and finishes inside the King's Buildings campus. The course consists of a 5-mile (8.0 km) road loop around the streets of south Edinburgh, with quite a few hills, though none of them steep. The race is popular with student and local club runners and usually attracts around 250 participants.[15]

Notes
  1. The Peter Wilson Building is where Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is located on campus.

References
  1. "The King's Buildings". University of Edinburgh College of Science and Engineering. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  2. Dictionary of Scottish Architects:Arthur Forman Balfour Paul
  3. Crang, Jeremy A. (18 November 2000). The British Army and the People's War, 1939-1945. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719047411.
  4. "KB101: celebrating a century of science and engineering". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  5. "Ideas: KB101 Art Commission". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  6. "Proposed street naming at the King's Buildings Campus". City of Edinburgh Council. Development Management Sub Committee. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  7. "Building profile: Crew Laboratory". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  8. "FloWave - Ocean Energy Research Facility". FloWaveTT.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  9. "Welcome the Scottish Microelectronics Centre | The Scottish Microelectronics Centre".
  10. "FloWave - Ocean Energy Research Facility". FloWaveTT.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  11. "Mary Somerville Data Centre – Melissa Highton".
  12. "Our Shops". Edinburgh University Students' Association. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  13. "The King's Buildings". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  14. "Haries - Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds Running Club, est. 1890". Ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  15. "Haries - Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds Running Club, est. 1890". Ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
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