Edinburgh Jenners: Historic staircase in Princes Street building could be removed for 'fire-fighting shaft'

Architects lodge new plans for Edinburgh’s iconic Jenners building following fatal fire

Revised plans for the restoration of the former Jenners department store have been submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council. Several changes could be made to the historic building, which is being converted into a 96-room hotel, due to the findings of a fire engineers report.

David Chipperfield Architects has lodged revised plans, which include removing a historic part of the staircase. Due to the need for an escape staircase and a firefighting stair, the architects have proposed changing the arrangement of the stairs in the building’s atrium. Other changes include an added fire escape route onto Princes Street and revisions to the lobby entrance design.

It comes after a serious fire broke out in the Princes Street building in January 2023, causing “localised damage”. Barry Martin, a Fife firefighter and dad-of-two, died after tackling the flames. The owners of Jenners said they were “devastated” by the blaze.

Part of the historic staircase could be removed to make room for a fire-fighting stair. (Photo credit: David Chipperfield Architects)

In 2017, the building was bought by one of the richest men in Scotland, Anders Holch Povlsen, a Danish billionaire fashion retailer and landowner, who reportedly spent £53 million to purchase the former department store. In summer last year, Povlsen’s company AAA United was granted planning permission to convert the building into a hotel. New shops, restaurants and cafés will take up the lower levels and a roof-top bar will be built.

In a letter to the Council, the architects behind the plans wrote: “The internal and external changes are minor and will not result in material changes to the building”.