October 5 2023

A revised planning application for a National Centre for Music at Edinburgh's Royal High School is being prepared by Richard Murphy Architects as part of long running efforts to rejuvenate the Calton Hill landmark.

Financed by a £45m grant from the Dunard Fund the project, overseen by The Royal High School Preservation Trust, will see the school repurposed for community engagement and performance and surrounded by public gardens.

Key interventions include the transformation of the main auditorium into a 300 seat concert hall, supported by rehearsal and break out spaces.

Grant Mackenzie, CEO of the Royal High School Preservation Trust said: “Our aspiration is for the National Centre for Music to become a world leading cultural venue for musicians, no matter their background. The new National Centre for Music will engage teachers, community music organisations and professional performers to inspire the joy of music, nurture skills and foster innovation.”

A revised planning application for the new plans is due to be submitted by early 2024. 

6 Comments

#1 Posted by Mary Hill on 5 Oct 2023 at 12:51 PM

The visuals don't exactly set the pulse racing.....

#2 Posted by Graeme McCormick on 5 Oct 2023 at 14:36 PM

think Murphy’s original proposals looked more appealing

#3 Posted by lecorbruisier on 5 Oct 2023 at 15:10 PM

Has the chap doing the CGI images mostly worked in the marketing of prison yards in the past?

#4 Posted by KLD on 6 Oct 2023 at 09:52 AM

Demolition of existing listed buildings has been carried out on the site. This was rationalised in the LBC due to the benefits of the school.

Now the developer is reneging on their original proposals, are they going to rebuild the listed buildings they've demolished under false pretenses?

#5 Posted by cara on 9 Oct 2023 at 09:46 AM

Could this look any more boring?

Careful, Scotland has a history of listed, empty buildings burning down mysteriously...

#6 Posted by Ed on 15 Oct 2023 at 12:15 PM

As mentioned by others, visuals look like they've been done by an inexperienced intern using 20 year old software. I love the guy in the first image, just laughing on his own into empty space.

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