| St Andrew's House | |
|---|---|
Taigh Naoimh Anndra | |
_(cropped).jpg) The front elevation of St Andrew's House | |
 Interactive map of St Andrew's House | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Government office |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Location | 2 Regent Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH1 3DG |
| Coordinates | 55°57′12.15″N3°11′2.75″W / 55.9533750°N 3.1840972°W /55.9533750; -3.1840972 |
| Current tenants | Scottish Government |
| Construction started | 1935 |
| Opened | September 1939; 86 years ago (1939-09) |
| Renovated | 2001 |
| Cost | £433,200 |
| Owner | Scottish Government |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Steel with retaining walls built in reinforced concrete and faced with Darney stone |
| Floor count | Eight |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Thomas S. Tait |
| Architecture firm | Burnet, Tait & Lorne |
| Other designers | Sir William Reid Dick,Alexander Carrick,Phyllis Bone,Walter GilbertThomas Hadden |
| Other information | |
| Public transit access |  St Andrew Square Edinburgh Waverley |
Listed Building – Category A | |
| Official name | Regent Road, St Andrew's House including boundary wall, lamp standards and gates |
| Designated | 14 December 1970 |
| Reference no. | LB27756 |
| References | |
| Dictionary of Scottish Architects | |
St Andrew's House (SAH) (Scottish Gaelic:Taigh Naoimh Anndra), on the southern flank ofCalton Hill in centralEdinburgh, is the headquarters building of theScottish Government.[1] The building houses offices for theFirst Minister andDeputy First Minister, as well as thePermanent Secretary to the Scottish Government.[2]
When completed in 1939, the building was the largest metal-framed building in Europe, and was the first time government departments serving Scotland were brought under the same space in Edinburgh.[3]
Built on the site of the old Calton Jail, the graves of ten murderers who were housed within Calton Jail remain buried beneath the car park for St Andrew's House. The turreted Governor's House is the only remaining part of the Calton Jail to remain in existence following the construction of St Andrew's House. The building accommodates 1,600 civil servants from the Scottish Government over six floors within the building.[4]
The building was designed byThomas S. Tait ofBurnet, Tait and Lorne, architects, who won the architectural competition to gain the commission. Construction began in November 1935 and was completed in 1939; the building initially housed theScottish Office, including the offices of theSecretary of State for Scotland. The heraldic sculpture on the front is byJohn Marshall.[5]
The requirement for the building arose as a result of a postFirst World War policy of limited transfer ofdevolved administrative (but not legislative) power to Scotland from London. The building opened to staff on Monday 4 September 1939 (the day after War was declared). An official royal opening ceremony timed to take place on 12 October 1939 was "cancelled due to War" (Britain's first air raid of the war took place only four days later over theForth Bridge). Instead, it was officially opened byKing George VI andQueen Elizabeth on 26 February 1940.
St Andrew's House was officially completed in 1939 and opened on 4 September 1939. The building was opened less than 24 hours afterWorld War II had officially been declared, and as a consequence, the official opening ceremony due to be attended by the King and Queen planned for the following week was cancelled. Shortly after opening, the building quickly became covered in soot and grime which quickly blackened the facade of the building from nearby passingtrams andtrains. As a result, plans began to be considered by 1940 for the electrification of trams and railways, however, these plans were ultimately shelved and the electrification of both would not be achieved until fifty years later.[6]
Opening during a war period, the early years of the building were turbulent. The Civil Service had long been preparing and considering attacks on Scotland, withPrinces Street Gardens being dismantled and dug up to develop air raid shelters in preparation for air raid attacks byNazi Germany. Considerable parts of Scotland were also being excavated to develop airfields and other defences, with emergency hospitals created in order to cater for anticipated casualties.[7]
St Andrew's House, as a government building, was a considerable target for Nazi Germany. It was the location of the first meetings of the new Council of State and of Scottish MPs convened bySecretary of State for Scotland,Tom Johnston.[8] In preparation for attacks by Nazi Germany, it was decided that large numbers of government files from previous decades were to be destroyed by staff in order to prevent a major conflagration in the event of an incendiary bomb attack. Dover House, the Scottish Office building which is located in London was abandoned for the duration of the war as a consequence of bomb damage to adjoining properties following air raid attacks in London.[9]
Despite air raid attacks occurring across the Forth on October 16, 1939, Edinburgh largely escaped air raid attack during World War II in comparison to other cities.[10]
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St Andrew's House was originally designed and built as the headquarters of theScottish Office. Following the passing of theScotland Act 1998, since 1999 St Andrew's House now accommodates part of theScottish Government, including the office of theFirst Minister of Scotland andDeputy First Minister of Scotland along with the Private Offices of all the Cabinet Secretaries and theDirectorates dealing withjustice andhealth. The building underwent a major refurbishment in 2001, although the facade is still coated in a sooty residue. It now accommodates 1,400 civil servants and has eight floors.[11]
As the headquarters of the Scottish Government, it is the hub of all Scottish Government decision making and is claimed to be where "critical decisions" are made by the Scottish Government.[12] Alongside the core business areas of the Scottish Government and overseeing the health and justice policy of the country, St Andrew's House is home to the office of the First Minister, Deputy First Minister, Cabinet Secretaries and the civil servants and the key corporate functions and bodies who support them. As the headquarters of the Scottish Government, it is frequently used in the news as a backdrop when international media stories break and media stories relating to the Scottish Government.[13]
The building stands on the site of the former Calton Jail.[14] Today, the turretedGovernor's House is all that remains of the former prison, next to theOld Calton Burial Ground andPolitical Martyrs' Monument. The large Category AlistedArt Deco-influenced building looks out overWaverley Station, theCanongate andHolyrood Park.
Architecturally, the building is monolithic, symmetrical and restrained on the main northfacade. To the south, facing the Waverley valley, it is much more irregular and romantic in expression. Tait's design incorporates elements ofArt Deco andStreamline Moderne and is noted for being a rare example of sensitively designedmodern architecture in Edinburgh.[15]
The building features a number of sculpted decorations, also in the Art Deco style, which are credited to several sculptors:Sir William Reid Dick designed symbolic figures; heraldic devices are the work ofAlexander Carrick andPhyllis Bone; the large bronze doors were designed byWalter Gilbert and executed byH.H. Martyn & Co.; and the secondary doors and stairs are byThomas Hadden.[16]
St Andrew's House is designated aCategory A listed building byHistoric Environment Scotland.
Central 8-storey, 9-bay block with flanking 6-storey stair towers and 3-storey and recessed-attic wings.
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