Any views expressed within media held on this service are those of the contributors, should not be taken as approved or endorsed by the University, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University in respect of any particular issue.
By Karen Howie (Head of Digital Learning Applications and Media in Information Services)
 
Goodbye Argyle House..
dlam-feed, environment, hybridworking

Goodbye Argyle House..

Brutalist Argyle House from the outside
Argyle House (photo by Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0)

I moved to Argyle House when I changed job and moved to IS in 2018.   I remember being nervous about the open plan office space and wondering if I’d be able to concentrate given the general hubbub of industry.  When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually enjoyed it – it helped me feel part of something bigger.  It’s quieter now since COVID but there’s still a lot going on and LTW does more social things on the wing now like bake sales, charity food collection (thanks to prize winner Stratos!), bring a dish type events (so it’s not all about cake… although my favourite things do always revolve around cake….) which is really nice.

Lots of things happened in Argyle House in the time I’ve been with IS.

 

 

  • We were based on the west side for the first few years I was with IS and I remember being totally freaked out when I realised the fire escape route was out onto the roof….
  • COVID happened – I got the train home with a monitor under my arm thinking ‘this will all blow over in a week or two’ (what an idiot eh!!)
  • When we eventually did return, there was the great flood of Argyle House which caused significant damage to our space.
  • There was the incident in the lobby. If you know, you know. *shudder*
  • New staff inductions usually ended up with me stranded in the basement with our new staff member as I showed them where the bike store was. The basement is a little bit like the scene of a zombie apocalypse movie, so thanks to everyone who rescued me (and the new person) over the years.  The zombies never got us.
  • We got an impromptu concert by Suede and the Manics one afternoon, a rehearsal in advance of their evening show. It was awesome.

 

My last day in Argyle House was Tuesday, it’s closing for us, forever, today.  I have a tinge of sadness – not a fan of the brutalist architecture but it looked better from the inside.

The meeting rooms have been amazing (thanks Lesley and team!), I’ve eaten so much good cake over the years in AH and the view….

… I leave you with this final photo of that glorious view, the sun shone on Tuesday – I think it knew…

 

View of Edinburgh Castle from Argyle House on a sunny day.

Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

css.php

Report this page

To report inappropriate content on this page, please use the form below. Upon receiving your report, we will be in touch as per the Take Down Policy of the service.

Please note that personal data collected through this form is used and stored for the purposes of processing this report and communication with you.

If you are unable to report a concern about content via this form please contact the Service Owner.

Please enter an email address you wish to be contacted on. Please describe the unacceptable content in sufficient detail to allow us to locate it, and why you consider it to be unacceptable.
By submitting this report, you accept that it is accurate and that fraudulent or nuisance complaints may result in action by the University.

  Cancel