One of the oldest and most prestigious buildings on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, Gladstone’s Land is Grade A listed dating back to circa 1501.

As a leading tourist attraction in the city, The National Trust for Scotland invested £1.5M in an ambitious refurbishment, enhancing the upper floor accommodation into market leading luxury apartments in the heart of Scotland’s capital.   These included a complete replacement of all services and bespoke handcrafted furniture commissioned to reflect the character of the building and fully integrated with services and lighting sympathetic to each of the themed apartments all uniquely different but refurbished to the very highest standard.

At ground floor, the existing retail space has undergone a complete overhaul and change of use to create an ice cream and coffee parlour, reflecting the rich trading history of the building, whilst the lower basement level provides catering space, enhanced welfare facilitates and breakout space for staff.

There were a number of challenges in delivering catering facilities into such an iconic building.  The need for compliant ventilation, drainage and temperature control whilst remaining sympathetic to the building’s aesthetics and the not insignificant constraints arising from the building’s listed status all required close coordination with the wider project team and extensive engagement with the client and various NTS stakeholders.

In addition, Gladstone’s Land now offers customers fully integrated AV experience which showcases the history of the building and its notable occupants.   

The many original features of the space and significant interpretations are enhanced with subtle but effective lighting solutions to maintain the original design brief to reveal the building’s structure and its transformation over the last 5 decades.  

The fantastic blend of contemporary style whilst retaining key period features is undoubtedly enhanced by the subtle approach to the M&E services, providing without compromise, the whole customer experience.

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