Old College is the heart of Edinburgh University. Initial designs for the building were drawn by Robert Adam in 1789. Adam envisioned a building with two internal courtyards terminating in a great hall for graduations. Construction halted with the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars. William Henry Playfair modified Adam's design in 1816, creating a scheme with a grand, single courtyard (which was for many years of the twentieth century used for parking). The building was largely completed according to Playfair's design, though the dome above the main entrance is the work of Robert Rowand Anderson (completed in 1887). The interiors of Old College, the Playfair Library and the Talbot Rice Gallery, are among the finest in Edinburgh.

 Text and video by Richard Anderson