Navigating a City University

I learned about the distinction between campus and city universities in the early days of college hunting. I always thought I’d be more of a campus uni person, but Edinburgh is as much of a city uni as it gets. The University is beautifully integrated with the city in terms of the architecture and the vibe (with the exception of two buildings that we’ll come to shortly). There are different campuses in different parts of the city, each with its own department, café, library, teaching rooms and study areas. Depending on your course, you could spend your entire year in one campus, or memorising the bus schedules of your daily commute between a few.

PC: Soup

Most Humanities degrees, mine included, are taught entirely in the main Central campus – George Square. Several university buildings are scattered about George Square gardens and Bristo Square, bustling with students at all times of day. Let me paint a picture for you- you’re walking down a street in Old Town, passing by shops and cafés, buildings with gorgeous Gothic architecture, until you take a turn and look at two monstrosities upon the façade of Edinburgh. These, folks, are the Main Library and 40 George Square, two buildings that feature among the top 5 in the ugliest buildings in Edinburgh list (that’s a confident guess). Eventually, you’ll get used these buildings and they’ll not be an eyesore anymore, and that’ll be majorly because you spend more time inside them than outside.

Libraries (indeed plural) on campus were a staggering difference for me. In my head, a library was one floor, two at most, with rows of shelves, a few tables, and one reception desk with a middle-aged librarian. Yeah, that’s not how it is. The main library has 5 floors that you can use, with bookshelves stocked with nearly every book you’ll need over the course of your degree. That’s not even the highlight. All those 5 floors have all sorts of study spaces- group study pods, private rooms for individual study, rows of computers, bookable rooms, window-side desks. A third of the ground floor is the library café which is open until midnight. The library itself is open 24/7 except during winter break.

You would think this library is sufficient but during exam time, I’ve desperately walked around all 5 floors looking desperately for a place to study only to find it all full. Thankfully, the university has like 10 other libraries too, and a lot more study spaces in other university buildings. Teviot Row House in Bristo Square has the Library Bar, the Sports Bar and the New Amphion café, all of which have study spaces, but it also has the lounge, the dining room and the study room which are all great places once you figure out how to actually get to them (trust me, the place feels like a maze early on). I don’t claim to know even a quarter of university buildings, and a lot of them are not even a campus, they’re standalone buildings tucked away in streets you’d never notice, like the Forrest Hill building or Lister Learning Centre.

The STEM classes all take place in the King’s Buildings campus, the only one I’ve been to that gives legit “campus” vibes. I’ve only been there once so far, but it has a crazy number of buildings, study spaces, labs and cafés, and you get Wi-Fi even in the gardens and outdoor study spaces (huge plus for me because I’m lowkey obsessed with studying outdoors – when the weather’s nice). The campus recently celebrated a hundred years and now they’ve got little poetry marking their centenary hidden all around the campus. The King’s Buildings campus is connected to the George Square campus via a convenient free shuttle.

Edinburgh College of Art has a campus of its own which is just a few minutes away from the Main Campus. Evolution House is a modern building and when you step inside, it makes sense that it houses the Design department. Just behind Evolution House lies the ECA building with lecture halls, art studios and exhibition spaces with its own café and bar. The ECA café is among my favourite study spaces (partly because they have power sockets near every seat), although like nearly every other Edinburgh cafe, it has limited operation times.

The only other campus I’ve been to is the Holyrood campus, that houses the Moray School of Education. I’ve only seen it briefly, but it was nice and open with good outdoor spaces in the courtyard. I think this is clear evidence of how little you see of a campus if you don’t have class there. I’ve never really been to New College, Old College (which has a great library) or the Bioquarters.

There’s something super intriguing and inviting about all uni buildings, and the feeling of accidentally discovering a spot that becomes your new favourite is something else entirely. Exploring the campus is not that different from exploring Edinburgh itself and I love every bit of it.

Conclusion: City uni > Campus uni.