[1] However, as the number of court cases in Edinburgh grew, it became necessary to commission a modern courthouse for criminal matters.

The site the court officials selected had previously been occupied by a part of Heriot-Watt University.

[2][3] The new courthouse was designed by John Kirkwood Wilson of PSA Projects,[4] built in buff sandstone[5] at a cost of £47 million,[2] and was officially opened to the public by the sheriff principal, Gordon Nicholson, in September 1994.

[6][7][8] The Cowgate elevation is eight storeys high and public access is to be building, which on the fourth level, is from Chambers Street.

[9] The court deals with both criminal and civil cases.