Royal Mile Mansions and North Bridge Arcade, Edinburgh
The restoration of North Bridge Arcade was part of a larger project of repair to the roofs and masonry of Royal Mile Mansions and North Bridge House. The arcade connects North Bridge with Cockburn Street and has a stained glass dome at its centre. The purpose of the project was to restore the Edwardian character of the arcade whilst meeting the needs of the shops and their customers.
The surviving fabric of the original arcade was the basis for the new design. The largest new element was a shopfront for the eastern half of the south side. The design of this was based on the frontage of the opposite side which included curved glass panels together with an Italian black marble plinth and carved capitals. Mirrors placed on the upper panels on both sides of the arcade hide the lowered ceilings in the shops and reflect the blue and gold mosaic ceiling, which has been restored by a specialist contractor to display its original beauty. A new lighting system was installed and the white marble pilasters were carefully cleaned. In the absence of any surviving historical records, the design for the new gates was developed from the detail of the existing cast iron overthrows.
