Elmwood’s involvement in the £17.6m restoration of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery – the world’s first purpose-built national portrait gallery – began with the bespoke manufacture and fit out of the new retail outlet, a project awarded to us by main contractors BAM Construction.

With the fit out successfully completed and the building handed over, we were then invited by the client and design team to tender for the gallery set works.

Ranging from moveable partition walls to metal frame window shutters, the design and manufacture of these set works was relatively straightforward in itself. It was the installation that posed the challenge – namely, the logistics of getting the larger units in-situ without causing any damage to the pristine walls, floors and sandstone arches.

But install them we did, painstakingly building all set works on-site and on programme, with great sensitivity to the Grade-A listed building in which we were working.