The Design History of Edinburgh’s Stacked Tenements

The stacked tenement apartments of Edinburgh are a trademark housing form in the Scottish capital, and a window into its geographic and political history. The oldest tenements date back to medieval times, when the city had to build up, not out, to stay within its defensive walls, atop a sloping topography.

As the city grew and Scotland became part of Great Britain, tenements expanded to house not only the wealthy but also working-class residents. Today, they’re highly sought after, writes contributor Robert Bevan in the latest edition of our Iconic Home Series: Built with six to eight units per building, they provide admirable density but retain a sense of spaciousness and order. Today on CityLab: How Edinburgh Tenements Became an Urban Housing Blueprint