Architects
James Gillespie Graham (portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn) was one of Edinburgh’s leading architects. He designed and built Number 34 for himself and his wife. He was born about 1777, at Dunblane in Perthshire, to a solicitor called Gillespie. However, when Margaret, the heiress of William Graham of Orchill, Perthshire, and he succeeded to the estate on her father’s death they assumed the name of Graham.
James began his career as a joiner, but soon began working as an architect. By the time he moved to Albany Street he was already well-established, having designed a range of buildings including St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow and St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh. In 1816, he had been elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
While living in Albany Street he designed a wide range of projects, including Edinburgh’s Highland Tolbooth Church (now The Hub), the Gothic remodelling of Duns Castle and the splendid rotunda stable block at Prestonfield House. He also designed new areas of the New Town; the most renowned being Moray Place. Commissioned in 1822 by the Earl of Moray as an expansion of the New Town on land the Earl owned, the plots were sold with the condition that each town house followed strict regulations of style and finish. Each façade was specified with drawings provided by Graham, including classical details and a central private garden with ‘retaining walls and iron railings in a suitable and handsome manner’.
In 1830, Graham met Augustus Pugin, the English architect, in the most unlikely manner. At this time Augustus was just 18. Pugin had trained with his French father who was an architectural draughtsman, and although his father was encouraging him to take up architecture, he was having doubts about whether that was the right path for him. A few years earlier, Pugin had become enthralled with the possibility of a career in stage design and then, having always had a love of the sea, suddenly decided instead that a maritime life would be the thing. He bought a schooner and began importing furniture and carving from Flanders, both to sell and for his own collection. Also, the voyages offered him the opportunity to see and draw a wide range of buildings that interested him.
Unfortunately, during one of these voyages, his schooner was wrecked on the Scottish coast, not far from Leith, and he and his crew almost perished. Having lost everything, he arrived in Edinburgh in a destitute condition. The only name he knew in the city was Graham’s, through his reputation as an architect, and although Pugin had never met him, decided to make his way to Graham’s house in Albany Street to seek help. One can only wonder what the servant answering the door though on finding a dishevelled youth asking to speak to her important master, though unannounced and unknown. However, admitted he was, and received with the greatest kindness for, as Pugin later recounted, Graham completely 'rigged him out' and provided him with money. During his brief stay, the two discussed architecture at great length. Graham recognised Pugin’s potential talent and advised him to abandon thoughts of hazardous seafaring or the glamour of the stage, and concentrate his future talents on architecture. As the young man took his leave, Graham presented him with his pocket compasses, engraved ‘James Gillespie Graham, architect, Edinburgh, 1830’, as encouragement to take up architecture. Pugin used these throughout his career, and he is shown holding them in this portrait of him by J. R. Herbert. (hangs in Pugin Room, Palace of Westminister)The second architect to live in Albany Street, at Number 36, was George Smith. He began his career in 1808 in Aberdeen but finding it impossible to compete with the main Aberdeen architects of the time, moved to Edinburgh to work for the established architect, William Burn. Although Burn sacked him at the end of 1826 as 'ignorant and useless’, Smith was undeterred and began to develop his own practice. While resident in Albany Street he began to obtain his first building commissions, including the Union Bank headquarters in Glasgow. He successfully applied for the salaried post of architect to the Edinburgh Improvement Commissioners in 1834, and he won a competition sponsored by the Highland Society for the design of cottages for the ‘labouring classes.’
One of Smith’s trainees was David Rhind (Number 49) who also trained with Pugin in London. Rhind won the competition for the Scott Monument in Glasgow which led him to meet the sculptor Handyside Ritchie. This influenced his use of sculptural ornament in his architecture, which came to fruition with his first major commission, the Head Office of the Commercial Bank of Scotland in George Street [today The Dome Bar] (engraving). Thereafter he became architect to the bank, designing virtually all its branch offices. In 1836, Rhind was elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh and contributed to the development of the Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland. By 1840 he was a founding member and treasurer of the Institute of Architects in Scotland. Rhind trained the fourth of the Albany Street architects, John Peddie (Numbers 14 and 36). In the 1850s Peddie was appointed architect to the Royal Bank of Scotland, designing several branches across Scotland. The amount of work he had led him to promote his assistant Charles Kinnear to be his partner. The partnership of Peddie and Kinnear was very successful, winning numerous commissions for churches, including St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh in 1872. Around that time, Peddie was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy, and served as its secretary for six years. He eventually left the architectural practice to become the Liberal MP for Kilmarnock, and, in Parliament, represented the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
William Henry Playfair was another of Edinburgh's great architects who lived for a time in Albany Street. When his father, the Scottish architect James Playfair, died in 1793, Professor John Playfair adopted his brother's four–year-old son and William lived at various periods with John in Albany Street. After studying architecture in London, in 1813, he again moved to Edinburgh to live with his uncle. In 1816, William was one of nine architects to submit designs for the completion of Edinburgh University's Old College. His design was selected and he worked on site, refining his design and overseeing the building work. The building contains the outstanding library (now called the Playfair Library (photo). In 1817, William moved out of his uncle’s house to live in George Street. Playfair was commissioned in 1820 to design Regent Terrace, Royal Terrace and Calton Terrace, and over the following thirty years played an important part in designing many of the buildings that make Edinburgh the city it is today. These included the City Observatory on Calton Hill; the Royal Institution; George Heriot's Hospital; the Advocates' Library; the Royal College of Surgeons; and the National Gallery of Scotland. Although John Playfair had died a wealthy man, he was buried in an unmarked grave in Old Calton Cemetery but, in 1825, as part of his creation of works on Calton Hill, William designed a monument in his uncle’s memory.
