How has the closure of Teviot Row House affected student experience?

The Tab has conducted a survey of Edinburgh University students to assess the impact of the closure of Teviot Row House, the university’s original student union building.

Teviot has been closed since 2023, forcing students to find alternative provisions for study and social spaces, leading to various levels of dissatisfaction among students.

Though the building was scheduled to open in spring of this year, unexpected rewiring now means the building will remain closed until at least 2026. Thus, for at least another year those visiting Bristo Square will be greeted with a facade of scaffolding and covers, rather than the grand Gothic-style building beneath.

Teviot Row House being renovated

The closure of the building has undoubtedly had an adverse effect on the student experience at the university. Hosting six bars as well as various study and social spaces, Teviot acted as the nucleus of Edinburgh student life as well as an icon of the university’s storied history.

For those in third year especially, the continued closure of Teviot means they will only have one semester to experience the newly refurbished building, as opposed to the year they were promised at the start of the renovation project.

In a survey conducted by The Tab Edinburgh, many were keen to express how the closure of Teviot has negatively affected them.

One student wrote: “It is harder to find study spaces as there are not so many round George Square”. This was a hugely popular response, with many others remarking on the lack of suitable study spaces left in the university.

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Though on the page detailing the Teviot renovations, the university notes that 40 George Square offers over 300 open plan study spaces, it is clear from student response to this survery that this is simply insufficient. Searching for a seat in any of the university libraries during exam seasons truly reinforces the impact the loss Teviot’s study spaces has incurred to student study comfort.

Many still believe the study spaces in 40 GS to be inadequate

Students also remarked on the difficulty the closure has made in running societies. “It has added a whole new level of stress to running a society”, one student wrote, clearly showing how the university’s other union spaces are inadequate to host large events. With more that 290 student led societies, the fight for space to hold events is growing increasingly more challenging, once more emphasising how dramatically Teviot has impacted student experience.

Socialising was another aspect where students have felt the closure of Teviot in a great way. “[There is] less space for socialising casually with friends”, a student responded.

In an age where young people are yearning for the return of the “third space”, something which Teviot was optimised to provide, there are far fewer spaces to simply catch-up with friends in a comfortable environment where money does not need to be spent. Certainly, the university has an abundance of cafes free for students to sit in, though these are often filled with those studying, itself a direct result of the closure of the study spaces in Teviot Row House.

Further, students are also dissatisfied with the current alternative to Teviot Row House, Potterrow. Significantly smaller than its Victorian counterpart, the university advertises it as the “main student centre on campus”, though a shocking 88 per cent of respondents to our poll believe Potterrow to be an inadequate alternative.

Whether it be the lack of suitable study spaces inside, or that there can be almost nowhere to sit during peak hours, Potterrow is nowhere near equipped to handle the needs of the UK’s seventh largest student body according to the latest HESA survey.

Losing the six bars inside of Teviot and being left with only one in Potterrow also means students have less access to cheap drinks and food, instead resorting to more expensive bars and restaurants in the city, something unwelcome given the current student financial climate.

The Potterrow Dome

The responses to our survey are a clear indication of student frustrations at the lack of suitable student union spaces available at the university. Whether it be the inadequacy of Potterrow to act as a suitable social space, or the need for more study spaces, it is clear that the closure of Teviot Row House until 2026 has had an undeniably negative impact on the student experience.

The University of Edinburgh was contacted for comment