February 12 2025

Work has commenced to breathe new life into a historic Edinburgh department store, by turning the upper floors into a hotel.

Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen with David Chipperfield Architects have taken on the landmark former Jenners store, vowing to restore it to its Victorian heyday.

Works will see the lower floors remain in retail use while bedrooms are introduced to the floors above, including a wellness suite, cafe and restaurant.

Key interventions include the reinstatement of a lost staircase to connect the grand saloon to the accommodation above.

The plans include replacing the Rose Street facade with a new block framed by vertical pink sandstone piers, retaining much of the existing structure and capped by a green roof. 

The project team includes 3DReid as executive architect; Loader Monteith as heritage architect and Rankin Fraser as landscape architect.

12 Comments

#1 Posted by Automat on 12 Feb 2025 at 15:24 PM

UR don't forget to mention the two Scottish practices working on this, 3DReid and Loader Monteith!

#2 Posted by UR on 12 Feb 2025 at 15:28 PM

Fixed!

#3 Posted by KLD on 12 Feb 2025 at 15:31 PM

So much focus on the atrium. Do people really stay in hotels because they have a nice foyer?

#4 Posted by KB on 12 Feb 2025 at 16:41 PM

#3 Call me shallow, but yes.

#5 Posted by Randall Sloan on 12 Feb 2025 at 17:05 PM

#3 what a pointless comment, it is a listed building and the atrium is an integral part of it and one of the most unique spaces within the building, so em, duh, yeah there is a focus on it. Further, any hotel with aspirations higher than a Premier Inn needs a welcoming foyer, it will form quite a large part of its identity.

#6 Posted by Mark on 12 Feb 2025 at 17:47 PM

Really glad that this project is moving forwards - too many schemes in Scotland stuck in Planning (or financing) purgatory.

#7 Posted by Chris on 13 Feb 2025 at 13:07 PM

#1 3 Scottish practices. Last time I looked rankinfaser were based in Edinburgh.

#8 Posted by Automat on 13 Feb 2025 at 16:16 PM

#7 Apologies Chris! I wasn't aware there was a landscape architect invovled.

#9 Posted by Gandalf the Grey on 14 Feb 2025 at 11:07 AM

Inpovled, you mean? Here we go again, hopefully no more fires.

#10 Posted by The Pink Lady on 14 Feb 2025 at 13:19 PM

The pink room, a sterile and bare exercise in minimalist neglect, presents a jarring dichotomy. A single bowl of fruit sits like a forgotten offering, a lonely testament to functionality in a space lacking in interest. Beyond the open doorway, a stark rooftop vista is framed, the glazing lashed by ice-cold rain in whips of menace. It’s winter now. With each gust of wind, the door cracks against its frame in a rhythmic, hollow echo, a haunting counterpoint to the room's unsettling quiet. This is not wellness. This is less a habitable space and more a provocation, questioning the balance between architectural intent and human comfort, and ultimately failing to provide either.

#11 Posted by Maggie on 14 Feb 2025 at 15:01 PM

For anyone interested the Design and Access statement (available on Edinburgh Council website) is a beautiful well prepared document

#12 Posted by Ya dafty on 19 Feb 2025 at 15:07 PM

Erm... "Loader Monteteith"?

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