February 8 2022

David Chipperfield Architects have prepared detailed plans to transform the former Jenners department store in Edinburgh into a 96 bedroom 'lifestyle' hotel.

The category A-listed Princes Street building has been acquired by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen to introduce a boutique hotel on the upper levels while retaining The Grand Saloon below as part of a reimagined retail and hospitality experience.

A design team including executive architects 3DReid and conservation specialists Loader Monteith have been instructed to make that happen via the addition of single-storey extensions throughout as well as a new facade and roof terrace to Rose Street and remodelling of the later Princes Street elevation, built in 1966 by Tarbolton & Ochterlony.

Crucially a minimum of 55,000sq/ft of retail space will be retained with a new double-height ground floor facade along Princes Street framed in Craigleith stone matching the scale of the 1895 main building.

A new octagonal tower element will front St Andrew Square, wrapped in flying buttresses to connect with the stone piers of the current facade. Embodying a pared-back design in contrast to the exuberance of its Princes Street partner this tower will adopt a more austere simplicity. The team wrote: "All this space will be part of the hotel’s roof bar located on the seventh floor of the Rose Street façade, which with its views and vaulted space will become one of its greatest attractions."

Justifying the requested mansard roof extensions the applicant added: "In order to facilitate reconfigurations for the required retail areas and hotel room key count, with a quality of spaces commensurate with the offering, additional space on the roofs is required. The purpose of the roof extensions is for hotel rooms, a public bar and the integration of modern plant equipment to service the hotel and retail."

The unlisted Rose Street extension will be faced with self-supporting stone cladding, with a focus on parapets and cornices for horizontal emphasis supported by vertical pilasters.  

4 Comments

#1 Posted by The Flâneur on 8 Feb 2022 at 15:36 PM

Ummm… I believe the ‘Four Seasons' caryatids, which are to be removed in this proposal, were pretty symbolic in terms of Charles Jenner’s narrative behind his department store so doesn’t that make them kind of integral to an understanding of it? Also, though I am a Chipperfield fan, his new corner dome is pretty insipid stuff compared to the Beattie’s original which is a wonderful example of Belle Époque excess. Back to the drawing board perhaps…?

#2 Posted by The Flâneur on 8 Feb 2022 at 15:43 PM

Ah… apologies… I’ve misunderstood the angle I am looking at. So, the proposal is for a new dome to complement the existing one to the south but at the corner of Rose Street and St David’s Street looking towards St Andrew’s Square. Now that is more interesting and good luck to them…

#3 Posted by MV on 8 Feb 2022 at 16:59 PM

I like this a lot. It's a tricky building to deal with and looks like it has been delicately handled.

#4 Posted by Bill S on 8 Feb 2022 at 20:40 PM

UR, you may wish to refine who acquired the building, lest Anders Holch Povlsen gets a little upset to be compared to the bioinformatician at the University of Copenhagen...

Otherwise, the scheme looks brilliant. The project is in safe hands with Chipperfield leading the design team.

Post your comments