Over the course of his professional career, the department of Ebenzer James MacRae (1881-1951) designed everything from municipal housing, churches and libraries, to street furniture, power stations and swimming pools.
In the 1920s and 1930s MacRae was responsible for the burgeoning housing developments at Niddrie, Craigmillar, Prestonfield, Pilton, Stenhouse, Saughton and numerous other areas. The similarities in housing design in these areas is plain to see. Inner city areas also benefitted, with dilapidated tenements in the Old Town and elsewhere replaced by new, improved dwellings. Over 12,000 homes would be built under MacRae.
On the 140th anniversary of MacRae’s birth, we take a look at more than a dozen of his Edinburgh designs, most of which are still standing, used or inhabited to this day.
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9. Murrayburn Primary School
MacRae's department designed Murrayburn Primary in 1938. Photo: Ian Georgeson
10. Balgreen Primary School
Balgreen Primary was designed by MacRae in 1932. Photo: Ian Georgeson
11. Gifford Park
MacRae was responsible for a number of redevelopments in areas of the city where dwellings were of an unsatisfactory standard. Pictured are buildings at Gifford Park in Newington, which replaced dilapidated tenements in the 1930s. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
12. Edinburgh City Chambers
In 1932, MacRae designed an extension to Edinburgh City Chambers on the High Street, including a new frontage and east and west wings. Photo: Wikimedia Commons