[10] This board had been set up by Act of Parliament in 1727 to "encourage and promote the fisheries or such other manufactures and improvements in Scotland as may most conduce to the general good of the United Kingdom".

[14] ECA was officially recognised by the Scottish Government as a Small Specialist Institution for the teaching of art, design and architecture prior to the merger with University of Edinburgh in 2011.

[8] In 2004 ECA partnered with the University of Edinburgh for degree awarding purposes, an Academic Federation Agreement to facilitate closer collaboration was put in place between the two institutions in 2007 and they merged in 2011.

[15][16] At the time the merger plan was announced in January 2011, Scottish Government Education Secretary Mike Russell criticised the financial management of ECA.

In 2005, the College joined with Edinburgh Napier University to launch the Screen Academy Scotland, a new centre of excellence in film learning and education.

This L-shaped red sandstone block, designed by Anthony Wheeler in 1971, encloses the college courtyard and fronts Lauriston Place to the south.

The nine-storey Evolution House on West Port by Reiach and Hall Architects was completed 2003, adjacent to the main College building.

While the college remains mainly concentrated on the Lauriston Place Campus, as a result of the merger with the University of Edinburgh in August 2011, the new enlarged ECA incorporated Minto House on Chambers Street (part of ESALA) and Alison House in Nicolson Square (Reid School of Music).

The Wee Red Bar serves as the student union bar, and acts as a year-round venue for gigs and theatre shows, and also acts a venue during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe See also Category:Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art List of Scottish artists