Potterrow Student Centre | |
Alternate Names: | Potterrow Mandela Centre |
Image Alt: | Photo of Potterrow in 2018 |
Address: | Bristo Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL |
Completion Date: | 1973 |
Owner: | University of Edinburgh |
Building Type: | Students' union building |
Architecture Firm: | Morris and Steedman |
The Potterrow Mandela Centre or Potterrow Student Centre is operated by Edinburgh University Students' Association in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The name "Potterrow" recalls a medieval suburb which stood outside the town walls. Its Victorian buildings and street layout disappeared when the university demolished the area for redevelopment in the mid-1960s.[1] With its distinctive large Plexiglas dome, the building was designed by architects Morris and Steedman and completed in 1973.[2] The centre was refurbished in 2012.[3]
Potterrow contains a variety of student entertainment and support services including a shop, a bank, two cafés, Edinburgh's largest nightclub, the university's Chaplaincy, The Advice Place, and the main EUSA offices.[4] In 1986, students voted to rename the centre in honour of imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela.[5]
During the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, the building is used as a comedy venue under the name Pleasance Dome with five performing spaces, operated by the Pleasance Theatre Trust.[6]