Victoria Quay (VQ) (''Cidhe Bhictòria'' in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

) is a

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

building situated in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, relatively close to the HRY Britannia museum ship.

History

The building was set on redeveloped dockland and housed parts of what was then known as the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

. With the advent of parliamentary

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

in 1999, these offices became part of the then Scottish Executive, now the

. It was intended that some 1,500 civil servants would work at Victoria Quay. The building was designed by Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall, and there are some prominent nods to naval architecture in the design. Its construction began in 1993, and it was officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

on Monday 1 July 1996. This building launched Leith's regeneration programme proper. New luxury flats, converted bond warehouses, bistros, bars, and restaurants followed. Until Victoria Quay opened, most of these official posts were at New St. Andrew's House (NSAH) on James Craig Walk, Jeffrey Street and Brandon Street in central Edinburgh. New St. Andrew's House (NSAH) was closed in phases from 1995 to 1996 as a result of the presence of

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

in the building, and lay empty until demolition in 2017.

References

Government buildings in Edinburgh Buildings and structures in Leith Politics of Edinburgh {{UK-gov-stub