St Andrew's House

St Andrew's House
Taigh Naoimh Anndra
The front elevation of St Andrew's House
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Government office
Architectural style	Art Deco
Address	2 Regent Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH1 3DG
Coordinates	55°57′12.15″N 3°11′2.75″W / 55.9533750°N 3.1840972°W / 55.9533750; -3.1840972
Current tenants	Scottish Government
Construction started	1935
Opened	September 1939; 84 years ago (1939-09)
Renovated	2001
Cost	£433,200
Owner	Scottish Government
Technical details
Material	Steel with retaining walls built in reinforced concrete and faced with Darney stone
Floor count	Eight
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Thomas S. Tait
Architecture firm	Burnet, Tait & Lorne
Developer	Scottish Office
Other designers	Sir William Reid Dick, Alexander Carrick, Phyllis Bone, Walter Gilbert Thomas Hadden
Other information
Public transit access	St Andrew Square Edinburgh Waverley
Listed Building – Category A
Official name	Regent Road, St Andrew's House including boundary wall, lamp standards and gates
Designated	14 December 1970
Reference no.	LB27756
References
Dictionary of Scottish Architects

St Andrew's House (SAH) (Scottish Gaelic: Taigh Naoimh Anndra), on the southern flank of Calton Hill in central Edinburgh, is the headquarters building of the Scottish Government.^[1] The building houses offices for the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, as well as the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government.^[2]

When completed in 1939, the building was the largest metal-framed building in Europe, and was the first time government departments serving Scotland were brought under the same space in Edinburgh.^[3]

Built on the site of the old Calton Jail, the graves of ten murderers who were housed within Calton Jail remain buried beneath the car park for St Andrew's House. The turreted Governor's House is the only remaining part of the Calton Jail to remain in existence following the construction of St Andrew's House. The building accommodates 1,600 civil servants from the Scottish Government over six floors within the building.^[4]