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Informatics Forum

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Coordinates: 55°56′41″N 3°11′14.5″W / 55.94472°N 3.187361°W / 55.94472; -3.187361
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Informatics Forum, as seen from Crichton Street.

The Informatics Forum is a major building on the Central Area campus of the University of Edinburgh. Completed in 2008, it houses the research institutes of the university's School of Informatics.

Design

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The Forum is designed by Bennetts Associates[1] with Reiach and Hall, architects, and Buro Happold, engineers. The architects' brief was to provide a "forum for interaction" that will foster synergies among the 500 researchers in Informatics: Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, and Systems Biology, who have been brought together, under one roof, by this development.

The building was the first in Scotland to achieve a BREEAM rating of "excellent",[2] and was constructed by Balfour Beatty.[3]

History

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One of the major recommendations of the 1997 international review that led to the formation of Informatics as an academic grouping at Edinburgh, was that the university should provide a building for the collocation of Informatics.[4] An options appraisal recommended that the university should plan for the collocation of Informatics in a new construction within the university's George Square Campus, using the long-vacant Crichton Street site.

In 2002, the university embarked on a fund-raising campaign. This was followed closely by the Edinburgh Cowgate Fire of December 2002,[5] which destroyed a number of buildings, including some of the school's accommodation at 80 South Bridge.[6] The school took over four floors of the Appleton Tower as emergency accommodation.[7] In the following years, plans for the school's accommodation were revised to include six floors of the Appleton Tower, and a new building on the Crichton Street Site.

In all, £42M was raised from public and philanthropic sources.[8] Planning approval was confirmed on 12 September 2005, and work on site commenced in October 2005. The Informatics Forum was opened by then First Minister Alex Salmond in September 2008.[3][4]

The Forum is the first phase of the Potterrow Project, the redevelopment of a site, bordered by Potterrow, Crichton Street, Charles Street and Marshall Street, that was cleared for redevelopment by the university in 1963, and has been used as a car park ever since. The Potterrow Project is itself part of a more extensive masterplan, that will see the Potterrow underpass removed and the campus extended to link Old College to George Square.[9]

Awards

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The Informatics Forum, as part of the wider Potterrow development, was joint winner of the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award in 2008.[1][10]

Photographs

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References

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  1. ^ a b "The Potterrow Development, University of Edinburgh". www.rias.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  2. ^ Carlton, Rachel (15 September 2009). "Informatics Forum by Bennetts Associates". Workplace | Design | Architecture. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "First Minister Opens Informatics Forum". www.buildscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b "History of Informatics Forum". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  5. ^ Seenan, Gerard (9 December 2002). "Fire devastates Edinburgh's Old Town". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  6. ^ agencies, Staff and (9 December 2002). "Edinburgh AI archive lost in fire". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ^ Fourman, Michael Paul. "Emergency Arrangements". www.inf.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. ^ "News Article". 22 November 2005. Archived from the original on 22 November 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  9. ^ "£150m campus roads revamp". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  10. ^ Welch, Adrian (7 November 2008). "Best Building in Scotland Award 2008, Architecture". e-architect. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
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55°56′41″N 3°11′14.5″W / 55.94472°N 3.187361°W / 55.94472; -3.187361

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