The new centre will provide a number of facilities including a conference and community centre as well as an extensive international learning and conservation programme following Geddes’s motto, ‘By living we learn’.

The project focused on the heritage of Riddle’s Court; the significance of the building and its relation to the evolution of Old Town architecture, as well as the association to Patrick Geddes and his contribution towards whole life learning and urban conservation.

Set just behind the Royal Mile, Riddle’s Court has been restored to much of its former glory, featuring many of the original rooms, interiors and ceilings which document its 400-year history. Riddle’s Court is one of the earliest surviving courtyard houses in Edinburgh. Over the centuries the building has hosted merchants, kings, paupers, philosophers, educators and most recently actors, such as Stephen Fry and Maggie Smith, as a Fringe Festival venue.

For more information, please see the Patrick Geddes Centre website.