Few buildings completed in Britain this century have announced themselves quite so brazenly as the coiled, copper-dark tower that crowns Edinburgh's St James Quarter development. Designed by BDP architects and developed by Nuveen Real Estate, the structure's spiralling ribbon facade — dark bronze cladding wrapping each floor in a continuous horizontal band, illuminated from beneath at night — sits in deliberate confrontation with the Georgian sandstone grid below. W Edinburgh, which opened in 2021 within this 12-storey form housing 244 rooms, makes no apology for the provocation. Interiors by Graven, the Glasgow-based studio, translate the city's geological and cultural character into a language the brand can carry. Guestrooms set copper pipe detailing and terrazzo bar surfaces against bold geometric ceiling planes — deep navy angles cutting across white — the effect somewhere between a rock climber's bothy and a fashion week set. Freestanding soaking tubs sit level with platform beds on rugs that burn with amber and violet. Higher up, the rooftop restaurant frames the Old Town skyline — castle, Balmoral clock tower, the spires of the New Town — through floor-to-ceiling glass, amber velvet banquettes and a mirrored ceiling holding the cityscape twice. The ground-floor bar leans into a warmer register: parquet floors, woven rattan chairs in a mid-century mould, chartreuse velvet ottomans, and textured ceramic tiles behind the counter in a palette of sage and clay.

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