Overview

This venue is the Student Union for Heriot-Watt University and is based on the University Campus. It does not have its own Car Park, however, Visitor Car Park B is located behind it and there is also parking on the road (Boundary Road East). The venue itself has three main areas - Liberty's which is a Café, Zero Degrees (aka Zeroes) which is a night club/event space and Geordies which is a bar (serves food) and pool hall. There is one accessible toilet on the ground floor of the venue and a lift to access the upper floor, which holds staff offices and additional conference facilities. There are two entrances, both of which have automatic doors, however, it is perhaps preferable to use the rear door (road side), as the main entrance has an outdoor seating area directly adjacent which can cause it to become very congested and difficult to get a clear path through. I was able to access each of the areas without problem, however, I believe it would be challenging for a user of a mobility scooter to access any of the venues on the upper floor as their scooter is very unlikely to fit in the lift. The staff are, however, friendly and helpful, so it should be possible to work around this. I do not believe that there would be an issue on the ground floor areas. I believe the venue has an access plan for the Zero Degrees space in terms of allowing wheelchair access during an event, however, I have not seen this in detail, I believe you would need to declare access requirements up front, however, it is not entirely clear how this may be done.

Transport & Parking

The nearest bus stop is on The Avenue, opposite Leonard Horner Hall. There is no parking directly at the venue, however, parking is on street nearby. The nearest car park with designated blue badge bays is located at the Centre for Sports and Exercise opposite the University main reception/bus terminal, however, this is a few minutes away and has a steep hill between it and the Union building, so is unlikely to be especially suitable.

Access

There is level access to all visitor focussed facilities on the Ground Floor. THe upper floor hosts staff offices and is accessed via stairs or a lift.

Toilets

The accessible loo is easily found on the Ground Floor opposite Geordies (and next to "Stone Willy's Pizza"). This is a typical 1990s accessible loo, so features grab rails (poor contrast with wall), a sink reachable from the toilet (no automatic or mixer tap) and paper towels (not accessible from toilet). It should be noted that there is also baby changing in this loo and sanitary bins. There is no advertised Changing Places or Space to Change facility in the venue, or, within the Campus.

Staff