QMU Building, Queen Margaret University Venue Photo, LDN Architects Building Design, Location, Date

Gateway Theatre Leith Walk

Queen Margaret University Gateway Theatre, Leith Walk, Edinburgh, redesigned by LDN architects.

post updated 24 April 2025

Location: Elm Row, top of Leith Walk, east of the city centre
Dates built: 1999-2000
Renewal design: Law & Dunbar-Nasmith – now LDN Architects

Elm Row building image by Adrian Welch

Gateway Theatre Edinburgh

Now closed

This Edinburgh theatre has a fairly elemental blue frontage animated with a flat glass canopy supported by metal cantilevered brackets. The sandblasted glass windows and mesh folding gates at the Gateway Theatre’s entrance onto Leith Walk add to the successul layering, though slightly weakened since the photo by signs and painted beams.

Queen Margaret University Campus: QMUC

The Gateway Theatre is part of the Leith Architecture Tour

The Arts venue was origianlly built as the New Edinburgh Veterinary College. It was a Category C listed building located on Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk.

Veterinary College

The building was purpose-built by George Beattie and Sons in 1882 for the relocated New Veterinary College (not to be confused with the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, which still exists elsewhere in the city). In 1904, the College vacated the building, with a professor and eleven students relocating to the veterinary faculty at Liverpool. The college buildings were sold to William Perry in 1908, who then applied for a roof to be built over the courtyard to create a roller-skating rink.