For almost 180 years, the vantage point from the upper floors of the grand bank building overlooking Edinburgh’s St Andrew Square was restricted to a silent few.

High above the bustle of the square, on top of an impressive mid-19th century building graced by six towering Corinthian columns reminiscent of Imperial Rome, stand six larger-than-life figures.

Carved by Alexander Handyside Ritchie, they represent Navigation, Commerce, Manufacture, Science, Art and Agriculture. For generations, they alone have occupied the prime vantage point, looking west over the square of grass towards some of the city’s finest buildings.

Now, however, they have some company. On the roof of what was once the British Linen Bank – later, a grand branch of the Bank of Scotland – is one of the capital’s newest spots to be seen and to see.

Built to designs by architect David Bryce in 1852, refurbished and now open after three years shrouded in scaffolding, the Gleneagles Townhouse – little sister to the Perthshire golfing hotel – has 33 luxurious rooms, a jaw-dropping glass-domed ceiling and, on the top floor, a bar with outdoor terrace where drinkers can gaze over the shoulders of the six stone figures to take in glorious views of the square and towards the Old Town beyond.

The building has been coaxed back into life in a city which has been remarkably busy, over the past decade, ensuring its precious built heritage does not go to waste as, right across the heart of Edinburgh, landmark buildings have either been revived or are in the process of being reborn.

Close to Gleneagles Townhouse is the Edinburgh Grand Hotel occupying what was once a Royal Bank of Scotland building while, in the Old Town, the former India Buildings, built in 1864 with a domed, balconied rotunda, has been transformed into Virgin’s first European hotel.

In contrast, however, in Glasgow, the company hotelier has opted to build new premises overlooking the Clyde rather than tackle any of the city’s vacant old buildings.

Back in Edinburgh, William Henry Playfair’s stunning Donaldson’s School has become apartments, the former Fraser’s department store in Princes Street is now the Johnnie Walker Experience and, in the Canongate, a 17th-century townhouse where economist Adam Smith once lived now houses the business school headquarters of Heriot-Watt University.

Old, vacant and listed properties across the city centre have been revived: even the sprawling 19th-century North British Rubber Company factory in Fountainbridge – the likes of which Glasgow, with its industrial heritage, has many – is now an artists’ hub.

As an indication of how fast Edinburgh is moving, plans have just been approved to turn Jenners’ former home in Princes Street into a hotel, restaurant and retail development – remarkable, given it only closed in early 2021.

While sites blighted by decades of dithering – the former Royal High School building on Calton Hill and the 17th-century Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile, for instance – are set for new beginnings.

Even with a pandemic to contend with,In the past 10 years, the city has substantially driven down the number of Category-A listed buildings within its World Heritage Site languishing on Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register. Once current or planned restoration works are complete, there will be just two left from a list of 16.

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve helped developers make the best and most sympathetic use of many of our globally significant and architecturally stunning buildings so they can be enjoyed now and for future generations to come,” says Edinburgh City Council Planning Convener Neil Gardiner.

“You only have to walk around the centre of our beautiful capital city to see the progress being made and restoration works completed on the ground to breathe new life into these historic and iconic buildings.”

Meanwhile, anyone walking past certain once-grand Victorian buildings in Glasgow might be forgiven for feeling less upbeat.

In Union Street, Alexander “Greek” Thomson’s Category-A listed Egyptian Halls – named by cultural heritage group Europa Nosta as one of the 14 most significant endangered buildings in Europe – have lain empty for more than 40 years, shrouded in scaffolding, rotting away.

Likewise the Lion Chambers, an early form of skyscraper that towers over Hope Street. Built in 1907, its distinctive Glasgow Art Nouveau style has not prevented it joining the Egyptian Halls on the Buildings at Risk Register.

At Sir John Maxwell School in Bengal Street, Pollokshaws, shrubs sprout from its Edwardian gutters. It is one of several schools in the heart of the city which closed as the population shifted and slid into decline.

Moreover, the elaborate Central Police Headquarters building in St Andrews Square, with its carved stonework, “Let Glasgow Flourish” crest, sculptures, cupola and courtyard, – including cells – is boarded up and plants emerge from its gutters and pipes.

Compared to Edinburgh’s rush to revamp and re-use, change in the “Second City of the Empire” seems painfully slow.

“They are very different cities,” points out Ingrid Shearer of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, which works to rescue and revive historic buildings at risk in the city and whose projects have included the transformation of Kelvingrove Bandstand. “Edinburgh gets a lot more tourism footfall than Glasgow, and that will attract more investment from private investors.

“But the picture is not as bleak as it might seem. There are a lot of projects coming down the line.”

The Trust is currently completing work on the Victorian West Boathouse at Glasgow Green. Scotland’s only timber, listed, boathouse in Scotland, it is due to open in September after a £2.7 million refurbishment.

Other projects include B-list Parkhead School, which is to be reborn as an enterprise centre, community space and offices; feasibility studies at Whitevale Baths, Category-B listed in Gallowgate and one of the largest baths complexes in the city; and Category-A listed Pollok Country Park Stables and Sawmill, recently awarded £13m from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund for a heritage centre.

Some prominent buildings in Glasgow are clearly in the doldrums, but Edinburgh may not be that far ahead, Ms Shearer insists. “On the Buildings at Risk Register there are currently 115 buildings in Glasgow and 92 in Edinburgh. Of that, 115, 24 in Glasgow are Category-A listed, and 26 in Edinburgh are Category-A listed. Nine in Glasgow are marked as ‘restoration in progress’, and there are seven in Edinburgh.

“So, the cities are kind of ‘even-stevens’. A lot of the perception around Glasgow is to do with the media exposure that certain buildings get but, overall, the picture may be a bit more optimistic than people realise.”

Glasgow’s population spread puts it at a disadvantage compared to its east coast cousin, she adds. “Glasgow’s population has almost halved since the Second World War. It’s a bit like someone who has lost a lot of weight and their clothes don’t fit any more. We have a lot of redundant buildings, and the communities around them don’t exist anymore. We see churches and public buildings lying empty, and a lot of that is down to those demographic changes.”

While Edinburgh is suitable for a magnet forhotels, tourist attractions and offices, in Glasgow it is community hubs, artists’ studios, business incubators and homes which are most likely to take over empty buildings.

“Glasgow’s problems are more ingrained than Edinburgh,” says Niall Murphy, depute director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, which provides grants and works to find new uses for old buildings. “What Glasgow went through, post World War Two, in terms of urban clearances were greater than anything Edinburgh went through. Around a third of the original Victorian city was demolished – more than the whole area of Edinburgh’s New Town.

“In Glasgow, the city centre population moved west, south and further still out to suburbs. In Edinburgh, you have that core of serious wealth.”

Indeed, it is Edinburgh-based developer, Chris Stewart Group, that is developing Love Loan, a £100m hotel, leisure and homes development close to George Square which will see the rebirth of two of Glasgow’s listed buildings that were once home to the Inland Revenue and the Parish Halls.

A council spokesman said: “Despite the significant challenges associated with identifying sustainable future uses for these buildings, and securing the funding to bring these buildings back into good condition, the council already has an enviable track record of success within its heritage estate, with projects such as the former Parkhead School, Notre Dame Primary School, the Burrell Collection, and works to fully refurbish the Pollok Country Park Stable Block.

Mr Murphy sees possibilities at every corner. : from grand spaces such as the former Central Police Station and its potential for courtyard cafes, art studios and offices, to B listed 97-101 Trongate, designed by Wallace Monument architect JT Rochead and currently on the ‘at risk’ register.“That whole Union Street corridor, parts of Renfield Street – there are vacant buildings all over the place. But we can get people back in and living in there,” he adds.

“Glasgow’s perception of itself is as a great Victorian city and all these buildings add to this sense of place. I hope they will not be lost – they are real assets.”