Scottish National Gallery

Hoskins Architects has completed a nine-year project to redevelop the Scottish Collection Gallery on the Mound in Edinburgh, part of a £38m project to transform the Scottish National Gallery. The new spaces feature a large expanse of Junckers solid oak flooring, forming a beautiful and hard-wearing backdrop to the interior.

Hoskins created a new gallery space below the National building to display more of the gallery’s large collection of Scottish art. The reworked design has improved accessibility and almost doubles the area available for displays, replacing what was previously a dark, dated, and disconnected space. The project also involved creating new circulation routes to link the galleries, including opening up a top-lit stair to create a clear view of the route.

Junckers approved contractor McGarry Flooring installed over 900m2 20.5 x140mm wide board oak plank in Junckers’ Classic grade, pre-finished in ultramatt lacquer. With sustainability credentials that include EPD, FSC®, PEFC and Indoor Climate certification, Junckers solid wood flooring fulfils the strict criteria imposed on publicly funded buildings.

Naturally low in embodied carbon, Junckers flooring has a positive impact on BREEAM assessments and caters to many of the design principles listed by Passivhaus to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.

• Reduce or eliminate building materials with high embodied carbon - Timber is carbon positive; trees sequester carbon during their growth and thereby prevent global warming.
• Reuse existing building stock - Junckers range of different installation methods provides the flexibility needed to accommodate diverse needs of retrofit projects.
• Better quality construction for longevity - Specifying one floor for the life of the building- Junckers floors can be refurbished multiple times.
• Specify products with long lifespans – Reduces waste as well as demands upon energy and resources.
• Use durable materials that are easy to maintain – Hardwood floors can be sanded and refinished rather than having to be replaced.
• Reuse building materials at deconstruction/design for disassembly – Junckers floors can be lifted and used again; thousands of square metres are reused every year through Junckers’ Reuse Scheme.

The project was backed by the Scottish Government, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and was partially funded by a fundraising campaign which raised more than £16m.

Photo: Dapple Photography