Rockville: James Gowans’ ‘Romantic Rationalist’ Masterpiece
Mon, 10 Mar 2025
The Merchiston Pagoda, Tottering Towers, Crazy Manor, Sugar Loaf House – call it what you may, Rockville was one of the most notable buildings in Victorian Edinburgh and indeed Scotland. Andy Arthur looks at the history of this remarkable building and its builder, James Gowans, and shows how Rockville’s ornate, Gothic form hid a formulaic, rationalist approach to architecture that has much in common with the ideas of Le Corbusier.
By AHSS Forth & Borders Group
