The pressure on city-centre office space in recent years has resulted in the conversion of many buildings previously used for quite different purposes. The RCAHMS offices, situated at John Sinclair House, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh - just off Clerk Street on Edinburgh's south side - were converted from a furniture depository.

Originally constructed in 1935 by J R Mackay as storage for furniture specialists C & J Brown, the original building stood four storeys high and its Thirties style was expressed by strong horizontal window bays and a steel internal structure with spacious, concrete-floored storage areas.

General view of the street frontage of C&J Brown's warehouse, 1990.
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Aerial view of the building prior to renovation to house RCAHMS, 1990.
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Interior view of the first floor of the main block of C&J Brown's warehouse, 1990.
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Interior view of the carpet sewing machine in the main block on the first floor of C&J Brown's warehouse, 1990.
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Drawing of site plan and south elevation showing conversion into furniture depository for Messrs C & J Brown, 1935.
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Section and north elevation showing conversion into furniture depository for Messrs C & J Brown, 1935.
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The firm closed the depository in the 1980s, and developers McAlpine Lang acquired the building in 1988. The Edinburgh-based architects J & F Johnston & Partners designed the new building and the contract was overseen by PSA Projects. The work, which was carried out in 1990-91, included the addition of a new frontage to the building, bringing it up to the building-line of the rest of Bernard Terrace, as well as a lower addition to the east side which occupies the site of a redundant farm building.

General view of the street frontage of C&J Brown's warehouse, 1990.
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General view of the front of the building under construction, May 1991.
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General view of the front of the building in the late stages of construction, August 1991.
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General view of the completed front facade, April 1992.
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General view of the rear of the building under construction for RCAHMS, September 1991.
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General view of the rear of the RCAHMS building and the car park, April 1992.
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The main block preserves much of its original structure, but in addition to office accommodation, the conversion included the creation of climate-controlled stores, a conservation studio and photographic processing facilities. The important public role of the building is particularly reflected in the welcoming, open-plan layout of its archive and library, the National Monuments Record of Scotland, which is open to the public from Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm.

The reception area under construction, September 1991.
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The reception area in 1998.
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Interior view of the NMRS library under construction, September 1991.
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Interior view of the NMRS library in 1998.
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Interior view of the end bays in the NMRS library, April 1992.
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Interior view of the NMRS library, October 1994.
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The images above show a small selection of the photographs and drawings of the building which can be consulted in the public search room from Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm. Click on an image to view the full-size version. Prints of all images can be obtained by contacting RCAHMS directly at info@rcahms.gov.uk quoting the name of the site or building, the SC number, the size and nature of each image required. A price list of services for photographs, digital images and other copies can be found under the price list page.