Teviot Row House building works

The University is working in collaboration with the Students’ Association to deliver a significant upgrade to Teviot Row House, the world’s oldest purpose-built Students’ Union.

These works will ensure that this much-loved building is refurbished and enhanced to meet your expectations and those of our staff and visitors. 

We are ensuring that Teviot’s character and its unique heritage and history are preserved, while providing the modern facilities that you expect. The upgrade will make the building more environmentally efficient and sustainable, and improve accessibility and toilet provision, while also making it easier to find your way around. 

As well as providing you with improved facilities, the building works are necessary to bring Teviot Row House into line with current legislation. These works will hugely improve access into and around the building. To date, none of the building has been fully wheelchair accessible without assistance. This will change to the vast majority of areas becoming freely accessible to wheelchair users. The main entrance at Bristo Square will be ramped and Charles Street Lane will also have ramped access.

We are enhancing and modernising facilities throughout the building such as the café and bar areas, as well as repurposing spaces to create a new student community lounge, student group workspaces, a wellbeing studio and a gallery.

The historic character of the Library Bar, the Dining Room, the Debating Hall and Teviot Garden is being preserved. The Sports and Underground bars are being joined to create a bigger, accessible café bar which will function as both a day and evening space for events and have been designed to be as flexible as possible.  

Progress update – October 2024

As work has progressed and areas of the building have been further uncovered, it has been identified that a complete rewiring of the building is now required. Carrying out these additional repairs is essential for safety and compliance, and ensures that we provide excellent facilities for our students, staff and visitors. This means that unfortunately we now expect Teviot to open to all students in early 2026. 

We understand that this delay will be frustrating and disappointing to many of you – we share in this disappointment and apologise for the delay. We want to assure you that the University, the Students’ Association and our contractors are working as hard as possible to minimise the time that Teviot is closed to students.

In more positive news, we're pleased to be able to share that the main work is progressing well: structural work, interior remodelling and roofing works are ongoing, and additional insulation has been installed; leaded and stained glass windows have been restored, greatly improving sustainability; stonework repairs have been made to the front elevation and scaffolding removed; additional toilets are being installed throughout the building, including additional accessible toilets on every level and specific gender-neutral toilets; work is about to start on new wheelchair access to the main entrance.

While Teviot is being upgraded, there are several alternative student spaces and study areas around central campus to explore. This includes the additional study space provided in the Study Hub at 40 George Square, and the Students’ Association’s Potterrow and Pleasance venues. Students’ Association services – The Advice Place, Student Voice Hub, Student Opportunities team and the main Welcome desk – remain in Potterrow.

Teviot has a special place in the hearts of many students and alumni. This upgrade will ensure that Teviot continues to provide modern and accessible facilities that meet the expectations of our students, staff and visitors.

We understand the delay to Teviot’s reopening may be upsetting for many students, and that's a testament to how important this building is to us. Teviot is a pillar to our community, and these delays are a part of us undertaking work to guarantee our beloved building will last hundreds of years more. We share your disappointment, and while we can't make the building works go quicker, we encourage students to please reach out if there is something we can do to make the extended closure easier for them.

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Teviot Row House building works