An Art School in Old Town Edinburgh that has historically preserved facades along the Royal Mile, bridging old and new in a new city center. / Master of Architecture / For my thesis I wanted a site where I could combine old and new. A site that had a lot of history and some element of historical preservation, but not so old that there wasn't flexibility in what could be done with it. I began by focusing on sites in Britain, which has some truly wonderful ancient cities and structures, some of which have been continuously occupied for thousands of years. The site I chose has a unique development history for Edinburgh, a touch of historic preservation in the mandate to keep the exterior walls along the Royal Mile, but otherwise free to be developed as desired behind these walls. The nature of the site, along the North side of a slope downward away from the Royal Mile, and the height restrictions of Old Town, meant that the site itself receives even North lighting throughout the year, but not much else. This even lighting combined with translucent roofs and ceilings, was the original inspiration for an Art School here. The Art School is meant to explore how a place of learning can maximize its sources of natural lighting, how the school can serve the public by idsplaying student's artwork and hosting local events, how school support areas can be made both accessible and secure, and how the students who attend can be housed affordably.