Going to your appointment (Getting to the Kennedy Tower or Little France)

The Kennedy Tower is based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, on Morningside Terrace (EH10 5HF).

Click here to directly access the location of the Kennedy Tower on Google Maps.

You can get to the Kennedy Tower via public transport, on foot, or by car.

Public transport: The Kennedy Tower is a 5-minute walk from the bus stop Spring Valley Gardens outside Marks & Spencer’s on Morningside Road. This stop is served by bus routes 5, 11, 15, 16, 23, 36, 101 and 102. From the bus stop, if you look up above Marks & Spencer’s you can actually already spot the Kennedy Tower!

Walking from the bus stop: With Marks & Spencer’s on your right-hand side, turn right down Morningside Park and follow this road about 200 metres. Take then the first left on Morningside Terrace, and continue straight on and through the entrance of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital site (as in the photo above). You can see this exact entrance on map of the hospital below, at the black arrow on the right of the map (“Exit to Morningside Road”). The Kennedy Tower is just at the entrance of the hospital campus, in front of you on the right-hand side. It is an unmistakable eight-storey white building (in the photo above), very hard to miss. Actually, it is so high above all the surrounding buildings that you can even see it from the top of Arthur’s seat. This also means the views from our lab are marvellous!

Driving and Parking: GPS navigation systems will take you to the entrance of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital site, just off Morningside Park. Please note that you are not allowed to part within the Royal Edinburgh Hospital site, though drop-off (for taxis for example) is allowed in front of the Kenendy Tower. You can park in the surrounding area, including Morningside Park, Morningside Terrace, Millar Crescent, and other nearby streets. Parking costs £1 per hour for a maximum of four hours. You will have to pay up-front at one of the meters. The researcher will have let you know in advance the estimated duration of your appointment. Also, depending on the study, the researcher might be able to reimburse you the parking fees, either in cash during your appointment, or at a later date via bank-transfer. When parking, please be careful not to park in a bay designated for permit holders only. Here is a map of possible £1 parking areas.

Entering the Kennedy Tower: Once you are at the glass-door entrance (photo just below) of the Kennedy Tower, please ring the buzzer on the right-hand side of the door. Either the receptionist or the researcher will let you in.

Signing in and out: When you arrive in the reception (just below is a photo of the reception hall) you will be asked to complete the visitor register (the person who lets you in will show you the register, placed on a table in the hall, on the right of the stairs), with your name, the name of the researcher you are visiting, the date, and the time of your arrival. When you leave after your appointment, please remember to also indicate in the visitor register your leaving time.

Waiting for the researcher: Researchers try their best to be in the reception hall when participants arrive, but sometimes meetings or previous appointments last longer than expected, and you will have to wait for the researcher. In this case, the receptionist will show you to the waiting area in the reception hall, by the entrance. The waiting area is in the reception hall, so you would see people coming in and out of the building, but the hall is generally very quiet. As you can see on the photo below, the waiting area includes chairs and a small table. While you wait the receptionist will phone the researcher to let them know you have arrived.

Getting to your appointment: The researcher will meet you in the hall, and will accompany you to the appointment room. Our lab is on the 5^th floor, but it is possible that your appointment will take place on a different floor. All floors but the 8^th floor are accessible with the lift, so if you have mobility difficulties please tell the researcher. All floors are otherwise accessible by stairs. The researcher will then stay with you for most of the time to guide you through the appointment tasks.

Bathrooms: You will find the largest bathrooms on the ground floor by the reception hall, and then smaller bathrooms on each floor but the 5^th floor (our floor). There is also an accessible bathroom on the 3^rd floor. A code is needed to unlock to doors of each floor, so if you need to change floor to find a bathroom the researcher will accompany you to the door to let you in.

You can get to the campus via public transport, or by car.

Public transport: The main bus hub of the campus is just outside the Royal Infirmary east entrance (right side of the map linked above, entrances are showed with a white arrow in a purple circle). There are multiple bus stops there, served by bus routes 7, 8, 21, 24, 33, 38, 48, 49, and 400. Several of these routes (7, 24, 38, 49) also stop on the west side of the campus, closer to some of the research buildings. This stop is called Sick Children’s Hospital, and is located right in front of the new Sick Children’s Hospital.

Walking from the bus stop: Most of the research buildings are right next to or in front of the Sick Children’s Hospital bus stop. From this bus stop:

If you need to go to the Queen’s Medical Research Institute, then you are luckily just in front of it. The building has a round blue wall on the right side, and glass walls on the front and left sides, with a smaller red wall on the left showing the University of Edinburgh logo. From the bus stop, walk up the little path alongside the blue wall and towards the glass doors of the entrance.

If you need to go to the Clinical Research Imaging Centre, from the bus stop turn back towards the new Sick Children’s Hospital, and walk alongside the Queen’s Medical Research Institute. The Imaging Centre is white building right next to the Research Institute. The entrance is in the centre of the building, with large glass doors. Please ring the buzzer on the right-hand side of the door, and tell the receptionist your name, they will then let you in.

Entrance of the Clinical Research Imaging Centre

If you need to go to the Chancellor’s Building, from the bus stop you have to cross the Little France Crescent road towards the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic. Keep on walking along the Anne Rowling clinic towards the main Royal Infirmary building. Just before the entrance of the Royal Infirmary you will see on your left the glass doors of the entrance to the Chancellor’s Building.

If you get off the bus at the main bus hub, on the other side of the main Royal Infirmary building, you will first need to cross the Royal Infirmary hall. When entering the hospital (named “Entrance 2” on the map linked above), you first cross a courtyard before entering the main hall. There is a large circular information point in front of the entrance. Walk past the information and continue straight ahead to reach the opposite side of the hall. The exit glass doors there (named “Entrance 1” on the map linked above) are right next to the Chancellor’s Building entrance mentioned above. From there, if you need to go to the Queen’s Medical Research Institute or the Clinical Research Imaging Centre, simply keep on walking straight ahead along Little France Crescent, past the taxi stops, the Anne Rowling Regenerative Clinic and the Sick Children’s Hospital. The Queen’s Medical Research Institute is just on the other side of the road turning right, with its unmistakable blue round wall. The Clinical Research Imaging Centre is the white building just behind the Queen’s Medical Research Institute.

Driving and Parking: You can get to the BioQuarter campus by car and park in one of the available parking bays. Car parking can sometimes be limited, which is why public transports can be an easier option. However, if you need to come by car, please make sure to leave enough time before your appointment to find a parking space. You can find more information about parking at the BioQuarter on the NHS Lothian website, on this page and this page.