New Club, Edinburgh
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The New Club is a private
History
The New Club was founded on 1 February 1787, only three weeks after the idea had been conceived at a Caledonian Hunt Ball held at the
Subsequently, numbers 84 and 85 Princes Street were purchased, redesigned and rebuilt, to a design by
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh became the Patron of the Club in 1952 and held that position until his death in 2021; in 2012 a large window was installed in the entrance to the Club to mark his sixtieth anniversary as patron and the Queen's Diamond Jubillee. In 1953 the New and University Clubs amalgamated. Whilst extensive alterations and redecoration were carried out, there remained unresolved the intention to create a ladies’ annexe. The club was completely rebuilt in the 1960s to a modern design by Alan Reiach, Eric Hall and Partners, incorporating the recommendations of the Princes Street Panel which included the aspiration for a continuous first-floor walkway along Princes Street. The new building introduced a Ladies’ "Side" with a Ladies' Bar, Ladies’ Drawing Room and Ladies’ Dining Room. The cost of demolition and re-build was paid for by an insurance company who gained 125 year leases on the three shops below the club's main floors. The club negotiated a lease of the St Andrew’s Hotel as a temporary clubhouse whilst the Princes Street building was demolished and rebuilt. On re-building, the club re-constructed the original Lorimer panelling within the new Dining Room. The new clubhouse opened for lunch on Monday 15 December 1969.
Ladies were first admitted as Associate Members to the club on 25 March 1970 (Lady Day). Only wives of Members could be elected until October 2010, when ladies were permitted full membership and their husbands could join as Associate Members.
The New Club building
Numbers 84–87 Princes Street, incorporating the New Club, were listed by Historic Scotland on 18 March 1996 as a category A listed building.[1] Category A includes buildings which are of national or international architectural significance. Historic Scotland describe the New Club premises as the finest example of a Princes Street Panel building. The Princes Street façade, faced with plate glass and Rubislaw granite and with distinctive cantilevered sections, is described as "very carefully composed".[1] The building is one of around 60 post-Second World War listed buildings in Edinburgh.[4]
See also
- DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments
- List of Category A listed buildings in the New Town, Edinburgh
- List of post-war Category A listed buildings in Scotland
- Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings
References
- ^ a b c Historic Environment Scotland. "84-87 (Inclusive Nos) Princes Street, incorporating The New Club (Category A Listed Building) (LB43322)". Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ McCrae (2004)
- ^ A Memoir by Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, in McCrae (2004), pp.149ff.
- ^ "Edinburgh's Post-War Listed Buildings" (PDF). City of Edinburgh Council and Historic Scotland. pp. 5, 53. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- McCrae, Morrice, ed. (2004). The New Club - A History. Tuckwell Press.