Steven Stuart Q.C. of Terra Firma Chambers successfully represented Edinburgh Business School, the Graduate School of Business of Heriot Watt University, at a public inquiry into their application for Listed Building Consent for alterations to Panmure House, a Category ‘A’ listed building in Lochend Close, Canongate, Edinburgh. Panmure House was at one time the home of Adam Smith, the renowned economic thinker of the Scottish Enlightenment. The Business School proposed to develop it as a centre for lectures and conferences and an Adam Smith library. The alterations involved the erection of a glass atrium over the current courtyard of the building. This aspect was objected to by Historic Scotland resulting in Scottish Ministers directing that the application be called in for their decision.

Scottish Ministers, in granting Listed Building Consent on 19 July 2011, agreed with the conclusion of the Reporter that the proposal would realise the full potential of the Listed Building as a cultural, educational, economic and social resource and would preserve its special architectural or historical interest and the setting and character and appearance of the Conservation Area in which it was located. DPEA Case Ref: HGG/A/LA/319 (Historic Scotland).