solely by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. In 1998 the new Museum of Scotland building opened, adjacent to the Royal Museum of Scotland building, and connected to it. The masterplan to redevelop the Victorian building and further integrate the architecture and collections was launched in 2004. The split naming caused confusion to visitors, and in 2006 permission was granted to remove "Royal" to achieve a unified brand. Merger – present day On 2006 the two museums were formally merged as the National Museum of Scotland. The naming had been changed for practical reasons, including strategy and marketing. The old Chambers Street Museum building closed for redevelopment in 2008, before reopening in July 2011. Staff at the museum took several days of strike action at points during 2015 and 2016, called by the Public and Commercial Services Union. Architecture Royal Scottish Museum building Construction was started in 1861 and proceeded in phases, the eastern sections opened in 1866 before others had even begun construction. The full extent of the original design was completed in 1888. It was designed by civil engineer Captain Francis Fowke of the Royal Engineers, Engineer and Artist of the Science and Art Department in London who was also responsible for the Royal Albert Hall, and architect Robert Matheson of the Office of Works in Edinburgh. The exterior, designed in a Venetian Renaissance style, contrasts sharply with the light-flooded main hall or Grand Gallery, inspired by The Crystal Palace. Numerous extensions at the rear of the building, particularly in the 1930s, extended the museum greatly. 1998 saw the opening of the Museum of Scotland (now the Scottish History and Archaeology department), linked internally to the main building. The major redevelopment completed in 2011 by Gareth Hoskins Architects uses former storage areas to form a vaulted Entrance Hall of at street level with visitor facilities. This involved lowering the floor level by . Despite being a Class A listed building, it was possible to add lifts and escalators. The accessible entrance is at the corner tower of the Scottish History and Archaeology building. Museum of Scotland (Scottish History and Archaeology) building The building is made up of geometric, Corbusian forms, but also has numerous references to Scotland, such as brochs and castellated defensive architecture. It is clad in golden Moray sandstone, which one of its architects, Gordon Benson, has called "the oldest exhibit in the building", a reference to