Leith

Aslightly topsy view of Victoria Quay.

The Scottish Government has quite a few buildings around Edinburgh , with the most spectacular being St Andrew’s House, overlooking the train station, it’s art-deco form seemingly growing out of sheer rock. The main building of the administration, however, is Victoria Quay, a new building on the site of a disused dock.

The picture of the Queen, discreetly placed in the lobby.

The place does have a rather marine feel, and is nicely isolated from its surroundings by a row of Georgian warehouses converted into flats and restaurants. The main stairwell resembles the inside of a lighthouse, and there is a lot of open space in the building, with light-wells, glass corridors, and open staircases which wobble precariously but look pretty.

The main stariwell.

And, if you’re office is on the right side of the building, you can look straight into Leith docs and spy on massive oceanic transport ships loading and unloading, coming and leaving, followed by flocks of wailing seagulls… And, cradling your warm cup of tea, you can look upon the open sky above the sea and the waters of the dock, swept by cold wind and rain while you’re all safe and cosy on the other side of the glass window. I think it’s a great place to work in, introverted, modern, and exposed to the elements. As a result, I spend the best part of my working day staring dreamingly out of the window…

Leith, the canal enters the docks.

The dreamlike atmosphere of the day continued as with a friend I transferred from the steel-and-glass Victoria Quay into the cosy and quirky Roseleaf Bar and Café. The interior won me over instantly. When you look around the place, it is obvious it is someone’s brain-child, the fruit of many a sleepless night spent planning, plotting, lovingly designing every detail… The speakers wore hats. There was a collection of tacky porcelain animals above the bar. There were antique lamps, mismatched chairs, and candles in rose-decorated teacups. Artificial flowers wound themselves around the bar, all dark wood and tarnished mirrors. But what really made me convinced this was a good place to spend an evening with was the answer to my question about white wine by the glass – they had five on the go… Five! Unheard of. And none of them was Chardonnay.

A few hours and more than a few wine glasses later me and my friend decided to give food a chance, and we were presented with copies of National Geographic, with the menu stuck neatly between the pages. They were historical copies, from the 1960s, and we spent a long time marvelling at the passing of time. The magazine we were leafing through was more than fifty years old, this is two generations, but it seems it is destined to retire as a menu holder.

Blast from the past.