View source for Appleton Tower

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox building
| image = Appleton Tower (39773534912).jpg
| image_size = 220px
| caption = The tower in 2018, following the completion of extensive recladding works.
| location = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| start_date = 1963
| completion_date = 1966
| architect = Alan Reiach, Eric Hall and Partners
| owner = [[University of Edinburgh|The University of Edinburgh]]
| floor_count = 11
| building_type = University tower block
}}
[[File:Appleton tower renovations January 2016.jpg|thumbnail|right|Appleton Tower under renovation in 2016; works to reclad the tower and add another floor. The works were completed in 2017.]]

[[File:Appleton tower looming.jpg|right|thumb|Appleton Tower under renovation, 2006; seen rising above the courtyard (also under repair) of [[40 George Square]]]]

'''Appleton Tower''' is a [[tower block]] in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, owned by the [[University of Edinburgh]].

== History ==
=== Construction ===
When the University developed the [[George Square, Edinburgh|George Square]] area in the 1960s, a large swathe of Georgian Edinburgh was demolished, leading to accusations of cultural vandalism. The Appleton Tower was intended as the first phase of the proposed interlinked Fundamental Science buildings, in a development that would have covered much of the South Side.<ref name="history">{{cite journal|last=Fenton|first=Clive|url=http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/building/GeorgeSquareHistory.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602171003/http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/building/GeorgeSquareHistory.pdf|title=A Century of Change in George Square, 1876–1976|location=Edinburgh|journal=Book of the Old Edinburgh Club|series=New Series|issue=5|date=2002|archive-date=2 June 2013}}</ref>{{rp|22}} The Tower was named in posthumous honour of physicist [[Edward Victor Appleton|Sir Edward Appleton]], the Principal who oversaw the development from vision into concrete reality of the George Square redevelopment.

In the post-war period, vociferous support for the George Square scheme, and impassioned opposition to it, were so intense as to elevate it to a national debate.<ref name="history" />{{rp|74}} Although the Fundamental Science Buildings were not completed, preparatory demolition of Bristo Street to form the adjoining Crichton Street site left the University with an embarrassing gap site, which remained as an open, windswept car park for over forty years.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

=== Refurbishment ===
Following the [[Edinburgh Cowgate fire]] in December 2002, three floors (3-5) of the building were used  by the [[University of Edinburgh School of Informatics|School of Informatics]].<ref name=informaticsforum>{{cite web |title=History of Informatics Forum |url=https://informatics.ed.ac.uk/about/explore-school-informatics/history-of-informatics-forum |website=The University of Edinburgh |access-date=20 May 2025 |language=en |date=18 March 2024}}</ref> These were completely refurbished, creating a modern environment for teaching and research. The five lecture theatres and teaching space on the ground and first floors were refurbished in 2006, and the remaining floors (basement and 6-8) were renovated in 2007.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The 2007 completion of the interior renovation of Appleton Tower coincided with further development of the surrounding area. The adjacent Crichton Street Car Park closed in 2005 to allow for the construction of the  [[Informatics Forum]]. When the building was completed in 2008, it became the new permanent home for the School of Informatics, allowing research to relocate from Appleton Tower.<ref name=informaticsforum />

=== Recladding ===
The Tower's external cladding of pre-cast concrete slabs with mosaic detailing had suffered badly from the Scottish weather, and in 2014 the university received permission for the recladding of the exterior,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/applicationDetails.do?activeTab%3Dsummary%26keyVal%3DMWTXN9EWLO000 |title=13/04874/FUL &#124; Recladding of the main tower building, new enclosure extension to east entrance and associated external hard landscaping. &#124; Appleton Tower 11 Crichton Street Edinburgh EH8 9LE |access-date=2013-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231021421/https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MWTXN9EWLO000 |archive-date=2013-12-31 }}</ref> a reworking of the podium including the creation of a proper entrance, and integrating the Tower with the surrounding environment of Edinburgh's Southside. The refurbishment was completed on 7 November 2017.<ref name="scottish-construction-now">{{Cite web |url=https://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/22509/ccg-completes-appleton-tower-upgrade-for-university-of-edinburgh/ |title=CCG completes Appleton Tower upgrade for University of Edinburgh |access-date=2017-11-07}}</ref><ref name="urban-realm">{{Cite web |url=http://www.urbanrealm.com/news/7093/university_of_edinburgh%27s_appleton_tower_over-cladding_project_completes.html |title=University of Edinburgh's Appleton Tower over-cladding project completes|access-date=2017-11-07}}</ref>

===Edinburgh Festival Fringe===
Until 2022, the tower was used by the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society]] as "Fringe Central" each August during the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|festival]]. It acted as a hub for performers and press and was designated as Venue 2. Fringe Central moved to [[St James Quarter]] in 2022 and permanently to the Grassmarket in 2025.<ref name=EdGuide>{{cite web|url=https://www.edinburghguide.com/venue/fringecentral|title=Fringe Central|publisher=Edinburgh Guide}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Jody |title=Fringe Society receives keys for permanent home in Edinburgh |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24910928.fringe-society-receives-keys-permanent-home-edinburgh/ |website=The Herald |access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref>

== Design ==
Designed by Alan Reiach, Eric Hall and Partners,<ref name="architects">{{cite web |url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/projects-estates/current-projects/appleton-tower-recladding |title=Appleton Tower recladding &#124; ,the University of Edinburgh |access-date=2016-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109155135/http://www.ed.ac.uk/projects-estates/current-projects/appleton-tower-recladding |archive-date=9 November 2016 }}</ref> the building included seven floors of laboratory accommodation, surmounting a double-height circulation concourse, with facilities included in its podium. A block containing five lecture theatres clad in conglomerate concrete and pebble-imbedded slabs is attached to its southern side. The tower's completion in 1966 created a symbolic manifestation of Appleton's vision for integration of the arts and sciences, with the twin towers of David Hume (Arts, now called [[40 George Square]]) and Appleton (Sciences), dominating the University's Central area.

An associated teaching block for east George Square, and a Mathematics and Physics building for the "car park site" on north Crichton Street, were intended to interlock at this sector. The latter project was relocated to King's Buildings in the 1960s, resulting in the James Clerk Maxwell Building; the succeeding project for the site, the Dental Hospital and School, was abandoned for lack of funding. The Tower was left isolated - and without a proper entrance, as this had been intended to be via connection to further construction.

Appleton Tower was built to allow first-year science students to be taught in the university's Central area.<ref name="history" />{{rp|59}} It has five lecture theatres, together accommodating around 1,200 students, and several smaller seminar and tutorial rooms. The upper floors originally housed teaching laboratories, which, with the development of more modern facilities at King's Buildings, had become outdated by the end of the 20th century. The upper floors are now used by the School of Informatics for free access study space, office space, and small teaching rooms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.inf.ed.ac.uk/infweb/news/building-updates/appleton-tower|title = Appleton Tower &#124; InfWeb}}</ref>

== Criticism ==

The building has been repeatedly criticised for its outward appearance. Geneticist [[Steve Jones (biologist)|Steve Jones]] described "the ugliness of the Appleton Tower" as one of the wonders of the world for a [[BBC2]] TV show.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sykes.easynet.co.uk/jones.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-11-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805081347/http://www.sykes.easynet.co.uk/jones.html |archive-date=2007-08-05 }}</ref>

Early in 2005, a student newspaper launched a campaign<ref>http://www.studentnewspaper.org/view_article.php?article_id=20050228170439{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> to nominate it for the [[Channel 4]] series ''[[Demolition (television)|Demolition]]'' &ndash; a series about the "worst buildings in Britain". The Tower did not make the final twelve. Later in the same year, [[Historic Scotland]] considered giving the building [[listed building|listed status]], but after opposition it was removed from the list.<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=2243642005 Scotsman.com News<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

A common joke among students and staff of the University of Edinburgh is that Appleton Tower has some of the best views in Edinburgh, because it is one of the few places in the centre of the city where you cannot see the tower itself.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-13 |title=History of Appleton Tower |url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/about/explore-school-informatics/history-of-appleton-tower |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=The University of Edinburgh |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{commons category|Appleton Tower}}
* [https://informatics.ed.ac.uk/about/explore-school-informatics/history-of-appleton-tower History of Appleton Tower] from the School of Informatics  
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110813221108/http://compsoc.tardis.ed.ac.uk/wiki/Appleton_Tower Edinburgh University CompSoc &ndash; Appleton Tower]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/uk_britain0s_worst_buildings/html/10.stm Photo] from the [[BBC]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090717081630/http://www.blitzandblight.com/appleton-tower blitzandblight.com / Appleton Tower]

{{University of Edinburgh}}
{{Buildings and Structures in Edinburgh|state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:Buildings and structures of the University of Edinburgh]]