Ravelston Garden is a 1930s

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

development of residential buildings, between Craigleith Avenue North and South, in the suburb of

Ravelston Ravelston is an affluent area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to the west of the city centre, the east of Corstorphine and Clermiston, the north of Murrayfield, West End and Roseburn and to the south of Queensferry Road (the A90). Ravelston is ofte ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, the capital of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It was designed by Andrew Neil and

Robert Hurd Robert Philip Andrew Hurd (29 July 1905 – 17 September 1963) was an influential conservation architect. His original aim was to be an architectural author specialising in traditional forms. He came to Scotland in 1930 and worked at the Edinb ...

, 1935–36, and consists of three white-

harl Harling is a rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, where it pr ...

ed International Style blocks of 4-storey flats. They were originally known as the

Jenners Jenners is a former well-established department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Princes Street. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005. It closed in D ...

flats, who were the managing agents. Ravelston Garden is a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The ''Edinburgh'' volume of the Buildings of Scotland series describes them as "Less stylish but more serious-minded".Gifford, et al, p.65 Architectural historian

Charles McKean Charles McKean FRSE FRSA FRHistS FRIBA (16 July 1946 – 29 September 2013) was a Scottish historian, author and scholar. Biography McKean was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 16 July 1946. He was educated at Fettes College, the University of P ...

describes them as "Jaunty blocks of international style flats on a butterfly plan, complete with roof gardens, canopies, balconies and curving garages. Particularly clever design incorporating up-to-date labour saving devices. Must have caused quite a stramash amidst the douce, opulent villas of the Dykes..."McKean (1987), pp.165–166 The book ''Above Edinburgh & South East Scotland'' by Angus and Patricia MacDonald includes a panoramic photograph of the three blocks, and describes them as "Proving that Edinburgh was in touch with the very latest architectural ideas in the 1930s, these flats... were among the first buildings to bring the International Style to the city".MacDonald, et al, p.140 The original fenestration was based on

galvanised Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

thin metal of the " Crittall" type, some of which were replaced by modern equivalents during repainting in 1989. Their original colour was green, and they are now white to ensure a common colour amongst the blend of new and original windows. Some 43 of the 48 flats have new windows. Other changes have include novel up and over garage doors, discreetly designed to match their originals.

References

*J Gifford, C McWilliam and D Walker, ''Edinburgh''. (Buildings of Scotland series), (1984), pp 65, 534; * *C McKean, ''The Scottish Thirties'', (1987), pp 165–166; *C McKean, ''Edinburgh'', (1992), p 159; *A MacDonald, P MacDonald, "Above Edinburgh & South East Scotland", (1989) p 140.

External links

Ravelston Garden
CANMORE
Scottish Architects Database Reference for Ravelston Garden
Buildings and structures in Edinburgh Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Housing estates in Edinburgh International style architecture in Scotland Art Deco architecture in Scotland 1930s establishments in Scotland Residential buildings completed in the 20th century {{Scotland-struct-stub