- St. Andrew's House
St. Andrew's House (SAH) is a large
Art Deco influenced building on the southern flank of Calton Hill inEdinburgh ,Scotland , with a fine outlook over Waverley station, the Canongate andHolyrood Park .St. Andrew's House is the headquarters building of the
Scottish Government . The building stands on the former site of Calton Jail. Today, the turreted Governors' House is all that remains of the former prison, next to Calton Cemetery and the obelisk.The building was designed by
Thomas S. Tait of Tait and Lorne,architect s, 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 requirement for the building arose as a result of a postWorld War I policy of limited transfer of devolved power to Scotland fromLondon . The official opening on 12 October 1939 was “cancelled due to War”. The official opening by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth took place on 26 February 1940 instead.Following the passing of the
Scotland 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 and the Directorates of theScottish Government dealing with justice and health matters (formerly theScottish Executive Justice Department and theScottish Executive Health Department ). The building underwent a majorrefurbishment in 2001, although the external facade is still coated in asoot y residue. It now accommodates 1,400 civil servants.Architecturally, the building is monolithic, symmetrical and restrained on the main north
facade . To the south, facing the waverley valley, it is much more irregular and romantic in expression. There are many Art Deco influences, notably the severe verticality of the RIBA headquarters building in London byGeorge Grey Wornum . St Andrew's House is protected today by being Category 'A' listed.References
External links
* [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst1166.html St. Andrew's House] on the
Gazetteer for Scotland
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