Location
St Andrew Square, Edinburgh
Duration
28 Weeks
Scale
Grade ‘A’ Listed Flagship Branch
Value
£2.3m
This project involved a full refurbishment of RBS’ Grade ‘A’ listed flagship St Andrews Square branch, including its consultation rooms, main banking hall and entrance. The historic banking hall is acclaimed for its large domed ceiling, ornate, gilt semi-circular arches and its spandrels. In order to preserve the architectural heritage of the building, all of the work had to be done in a way that respected and conserved its outstanding original features. Historic Scotland were consulted extensively to ensure that this was the case.
"Morris & Spottiswood completed these works to a high standard of finish, working closely with RBS and Project Team and negotiating a number of unforeseeable issues such as the discovery of asbestos and the banking hall’s original tiled floor. The team worked closely with Historic Environment Scotland, ensuring involvement at all stages of the project while ensuring the project was delivered to the correct timescales and to the satisfaction of The Royal Bank of Scotland."
DELIVERY
To ensure that the bank could continue functioning we set up a temporary branch arrangement nearby. During the project, we had to negotiate a number of unforeseeable issues, such as the discovery of the building’s original encaustic tiled floor. This proved to be unsalvageable in its entirety, so a viewing window was created to preserve and celebrate this newly discovered artefact.
Works included laying a new stone floor in the entrance and main hall, plaster work and full decorative repairs and new signage. Specialist M&E work included lighting, small power, IT, security and fire alarms.