An international design competition winning project for the National Galleries of Scotland was undertaken in stages. It was a project to link the royal Scottish Academy with the national Gallery of Scotland, with a new concourse level under the existing Mound, in Edinburgh. The mound is a World Heritage Site and the Buildings them selves are Grade A listed.

Prior to the competition, consolidation of the existing RSA foundations was completed, 2000. Following this, stage 1 was for the restoration of the Royal Scottish Academy, a Grade A Listed Building to the standards required by the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. This stage was funded by the Scottish Office and private donations. This stage saw the conservation and refurbishment of the existing RSA building and this was re- opened to the public in August 2003 with it's first major exhibition: Monet, The Seine and The Sea. The building provides 10 fully refurbished galleries and 2 new galleries, an art handling lift, 5 metres by 3 metres, concealed behind a pivoting stone door, a new glazed passenger lift, refurbished office accommodation for the Academicians and new public lavatories. Full air conditioning is provided with external louvers on the roof to control the daylight.

The second stage, the new underground link and connection to the existing National Gallery of Scotland was under construction concurrently with the first stage from October 2002. This stage opened in August 2004. the new concourse level provides a new shop, restaurant suite, lecture theatre and education rooms linking to both the royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery Buildings. This link has two new public staircases and lifts and provides a new IT exhibition space and additional plant areas. It also contains a new entrance, circulation and reception areas from Prince's Gardens East. This stage was funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund and private donations.

Drawings of the project were exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2000 and won 2 awards: The AJ Bovis Lend Lease Non Members Award and The Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects Measured Drawing prize. In September and October 2002, the scheme was exhibited at the 8th Mostra Internazionale di Architettura at the Venice Bienale in Italy.

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