The great urban palace

This is the famous north side of Edinburgh's Charlotte Square, designed by Robert Adam in 1791, one year before his death, and recognised as one of the finest Georgian set pieces in Europe. The square was the last part to be built of the first phase of the Edinburgh New Town, laid out in a plan by James Craig adopted in 1767. Adam's design for each of the square's four sides, like a great urban palace with a centrepiece, wings and two pavilions, was very influential in the later elements of the New Town designed by other architects.

For those of us work in or near Charlotte Square, we may occasionally become blase to its quality. It is worth pausing now and again to take in its elegance and beauty, as I did today.