Why is it called Scottish Provident House? The building was purchased by the Scottish Provident Institution in the mid 1970's - previously they had been renting premises in Lyon Way, a few hundred yards away. I believe that the building was purchased from the developers. From memory, downstairs facing College Road used to be the Northern Rock Building Society (and the car park), SPI were on the first floor and Schauman timber products were on upper floors. The top level was a small flat for use by visitors to the building. There were a few other tennants in the building too. Sometime later, around 1990, SPI sold the building and moved a few hundred yards away, this was possibly around the time that they were taken over by Abbey National (later Santander) but somehow the building's name remained, a sort-of sad legacy to a once great Institution that was based in St Andrews Square, Edinburgh, and which had branches throughout the UK