The abandoned shell of New St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh, the former home of the then Scottish Office from 1975 until 1999. Persistent rumours suggest that a great deal of the documentation that could have thrown some light on the matters explored by the Alba ad Astra project was destroyed when the building was closed. Official statements on the matter cite the problem of asbestos contamination, which is common to the Brutalist architecture of the period, but other sources suggest that the material was stored in a underground shelter located beneath the basement levels: “They had a blast-proof nuclear bunker down there, didn’t they?” alleges a demolition worker who wishes to remain anonymous. “All those places did, mind. But they stored some pretty funny things under the ground, and in the end, the concrete was supposed to keep any blast contained – not keep it out, ken?”