Landmark store to become boutique hotel with Victorian features

ARCHITECTS HAVE revealed plans to transform Edinburgh’s landmark former Jenners store – including a boutique hotel with a restaurant and retail space.

David Chipperfield Architects revealed long-awaited plans for the shop on Edinburgh’s Princes Street, which are backed by Danish retail billionaire Anders Holch

Povlsen. The latest scheme is to turn a part of the former department store into a 96-bedroom boutique hotel, with a bar and restaurant.

Under the proposal, the threestorey, top-lit grand saloon at the heart of the Victorian Renaissance Revival style will be “restored to its former splendour as a unique public space that is integral to both the department store and hotel”.

The project, backed by Anders Holch Povlsen’s property company AAA United, also includes restoring the historic façade. Architects want to revamp and part re-model the linked 1960s Princes Street building, adding a new floor, frontage and roof terrace to 10-14 Rose Street and a single-storey roof extension to the 1895 and 1903 buildings.

In a design and access statement lodged with the City of Edinburgh Council, AAA United director Anders Krogh said: “When we acquired the Jenners building, we knew that it came with a great deal of responsibility. We understand the scale of the challenge and are fully dedicated to honouring this building and its place within the future of Edinburgh.

“The original Jenners building will always stay and is the very DNA of our plans, with the redevelopment of a vibrant, sustainable and accessible department store being the heart of the project.”

Founded in 1838, Jenners was one of the oldest department stores in the world to continuously trade from the same site. However, the listed building closed in May 2020 and has never reopened.