The Scotch Whisky Association is to move into a modernist glass and steel Foster + Partners designed offices in Edinburgh's Old Town, in a move that the trade association says will help it to "showcase the industry better".

Last month the SWA, the trade body which represents most Scotch whisky distillers, sold its Georgian townhouse office offices at Atholl Crescent in the New Town - which has been its home for more than 40 years - and has taken a 15-year lease of the first floor of the cutting edge Quartermile 2 development, which it will move into in the second half of the summer.

SWA chief executive David Frost said that the move to a modern open plan office would give staff a better working environment and, from an image point of view, was "a statement of the kind of association and indeed industry we want to be".

"Quartermile gives us a new and modern office environment of a kind that was not possible at Atholl Crescent," he said.

"Its design and location will make a vigorous statement about the Scotch Whisky Association as the representative of an industry that is both very modern yet rooted in tradition. It will also take us to a new level in team working and will give our talented staff the kind of office environment they deserve."

The move to its new award-winning offices in Lister Square will be the SWA's third move since it was founded in 1942. Originally located at Abercromby Place, the association moved to nearby George Street before moving to its Grade A listed offices at 20 Atholl Crescent in the early 1970s.

Earlier this year the SWA announced a shake-up of its senior management team that will see some of its operations move to a new London office which is expected to open in the coming weeks. The London office will be headed up by a new global affairs director who has yet to be appointed.