Edinburgh Castle Visitor Reception

2005 Invited Competition

AMA were invited to submit a proposals for a new ticket booth within Edinburgh Castle to replace the existing portacabin on the Esplanade. 

We took our inspiration from the various accretions of historical military hardware that are bolted to the monolithic stone walls - the cannon, gates, braziers, brackets - invariably black, metal and heavy. Despite the many tourists milling around, the Castle is still a military garrison today - how might different military hardware be today - not wheels, levers, cranks, bolts and screws anymore, but sleeker, solid state, brooding. 

The ticket booth isn’t a comfortable ‘homey’ building of stone and lead nestling in the walls of the Castle. The image of the stealth fighter comes to mind - its non-reflective black finish sucking in light and energy, its unorthodox and awkward, but beautiful, geometric form defies a simple understanding. How might an enigmatic object sit within such a powerful context such as the Castle?