Plans for the revamp of one of the world’s oldest department stores, Edinburgh’s famous Jenners have been released.
New images show how the landmark outlet which opened in 1838. will be transformed in a three-year project.
Dubbed the Harrods of the north, the Victorian department store is being returned to its former glory by the building’s Danish billionaire owner Anders Holch Povlsen.
The store will remain the same size, while 10,000 sq m (108,000 sq ft) of disused rooms in the upper levels of the six storey building will be made into a hotel.
A cafe will be created between the department store and hotel.
Work to strip out old electrical wiring and asbestos began in 2021. Now that work has been completed, a huge crane, built through a hole in the roof, is being used to remove and replace fixtures and fittings.
The Victorian facade is also being restored.
A 1966 extension facing on to Princes Street is receiving a new facade “which respects the older sections of the Jenners building”.
The building’s parapet will be extended and the roofscape will be tidied as part of plans for a rooftop bar overlooking St Andrew Square.
The rooftop will also include a private terrace for the hotel’s corner suite, which will have views of The Mound and Arthur’s Seat.
The hotel’s entrance will be on Rose Street at the back of the building, while the department store entrances on Princes Street and South St David Street will remain as shop doors.
After the original Jenners building was destroyed by a fire in 1892, architect William Hamilton Beattie, who also designed the Balmoral and Carlton Hotel, designed the current building on Princes Street in the Victorian Renaissance revival style.
The new building opened in 1895 and was extended in 1903. Further extensions were added in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Jenners department store was highly acclaimed when it opened as the largest department store in Britain, introducing technical innovations such as electric lighting and hydraulic lifts.
The richly decorated interiors, open atrium and extensive use of daylight was pioneering in retail building design.
The building was home to over one hundred different departments, selling everything from international designer fashion to locally crafted Scottish goods.
It was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005 and In 2017, it was purchased by AAA United, a real estate company owned by Povlsen, before closing for refurbishment in 2020.
Firefighter Barry Martin, 38, died at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh following a fire at the Jenners building in 2023.
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