Calton Hill music hub set to host its first concerts in 2027

A new National Centre for Music will be created in Edinburgh under plans to transform the former Royal High School building on Calton Hill. | Supplied

It has been one of Edinburgh's most prominent landmarks for almost two centuries as well as a lightning rod for controversy and debate for decades.

Nearly 60 years after its last pupils and staff at the Royal High School bid farewell to their building, the property finally appears set for a new lease of life.

More than £65 million is now in place to realise an American arts philanthropist's vision of it becoming home to a new cultural hub for the city.

Grant Mackenzie is executive director of the Royal High School Preservation Trust, which is pursuing plans for a new National Centre for Music in Edinburgh. Picture: Stewart Attwood | Stewart Attwood

Work is well under way behind the scenes after a nine-year campaign to secure the future of the "Greek Revival" building as a centre of musical excellence.

A recent fundraising drive, which has generated £10m worth of new support for the project, will allow major construction work to start in the summer.

And within three years, musicians are due to stage the first public performances in the A-listed building.

But for Grant Mackenzie, who is leading the team behind the National Centre for Music project, it will be much more than a concert hall.

Two new gardens will be created on either side of Edinburgh's former Royal High School under plans to turn it into a National Centre for Music. | Supplied

New plans which have taken shape over the past 18 months will see the city get its biggest new public gardens for more than 200 years, but an indoor and outdoor "cultural destination" expected to play a pivotal role in the city's festivals calendar.

The building is also intended to become a major new focal point for the music-making sector in the city, bringing artists, orchestras, ensembles and organisations together for collaborations, rehearsals, recording sessions and performances.

Mr Mackenzie said: "Many of us have been walking past this building for years and have felt it was such a shame that nothing was being done with it.

"This project is going to create a unique environment that is unlike anything else we have in Edinburgh at the moment.

"The last time the building was open to the public was in 1968, when it was still a school, but we will be creating much more access than anyone has ever had before.

It is hoped the former Royal High School on Edinburgh's Calton Hill will be reborn as a National Centre for Music and concert hall by 2027.

“We want to ensure both the building and grounds are as accessible and inclusive as possible.

"We want everyone in the city to come here to enjoy everything we will have going on. The landscaped grounds will be open to the public seven days a week, so people can come here for a peaceful and relaxing time, and also potentially hear some music in the gardens as well.

"Our main entrance will be just five minutes along Waterloo Place from Princes Street. And one of the most impressive things will be the number of astounding views of the city you will get as you move around our site."

Although the project has the backing of a number of classical music organisations, Mr Mackenzie insists all genres of music will be welcome within its walls.

The former Royal High School on Edinburgh's Calton Hill has been closed to the public since 1968. Picture: Scott Louden

The building will have three indoor performance spaces, two with a capacity of up to 150 and the main auditorium, for audiences of around 300.

He said: "We really want to work closely with the wider music sector in Edinburgh.

"There are a lot of music organisations doing really good work in the city and we will be trying to support that whole eco-system.

"We are very keen to have flexibility in some parts of the building so that they are suitable for various things, including performances, exhibitions and conferences, and we also want to make sure the main concert hall is as flexible as possible for different concerts and genres of music.

A new National Centre for Music will be created in Edinburgh under plans to transform the former Royal High School on Calton Hill. | Supplied

"We really want the building to be a new cultural hub for Edinburgh. We also want to respond to what the festivals need and support them.

"One of the things we've spoken to the council about is the fact that things are very much focused on the Old Town at the moment. We really want to bring those festival audiences here."

The full reopening of the building for the first time since the Royal High School relocated to a new site will bring an end to a saga which has seen numerous proposals for the building come and go - including its proposed use as a parliamentary building, a national photography centre 20 years ago and a luxury hotel.

The latter scheme was still on the cards when an alternative vision backed by Carol Grigor first emerged in 2015.

At the time, Ms Grigor and her Dunard Fund were joining forces with the independent Edinburgh music school St Mary's to create a new home.

A key element of the scheme was the creation of three performance spaces, including the main concert hall in the space that would have been the debating chamber for the proposed Scottish Assembly which was scuppered in the 1979 referendum vote.

Although it was the city council that had instigated a competition in 2010 to find a luxury hotel operator for its site, the plans that eventually emerged faced a backlash from heritage groups who objected planned extensions to either side of the original building designed by architect Thomas Hamilton.

The scheme, which would have seen a Rosewood hotel open in the building, was rejected by both the local authority and the Scottish Government.

When the council launched a new drive to find a suitable use for the building in 2021, Ms Grigor's Royal High School Preservation Trust was the firm favourite to secure the its backing

But there have been a few twists and turns since then.

When the deadline for final bids arrived, the trust's vision had hugely expanded and now included a proposed National Centre for Music, as well as the proposed home for St Mary's Music School.

A long list of new partners was unveiled, including the Dunard Centre, the new 1000-capacity concert hall proposed for St Andrew Square also being backed by Ms Grigor, as well as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Dunedin Consort, Live Music Now, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and violinist Nicola Benedetti's foundation.

Speaking at the time, Benedetti said: "The National Centre for Music presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to enrich the cultural life of Scotland and to serve as a beacon of true 21st century music education for the world to see.

"Thanks to the generosity and vision of Carol Colburn Grigor and Dunard Fund, we have the means, as well as the collective will and dedication from all walks of Scottish life, to realise a revolutionary vision."

When the city council officially announced it was backing the new musical vision, the project appeared in good shape, thanks largely to the £55m committed by the Dunard Fund, which included a £10m "endowment fund" to help pay for its running and maintenance costs.

When final agreements with the city council were concluded in March of last year, the trust announced that the restoration was due to "commence immediately."

However within months it was clear that the project had returned to the drawing board, after the cost of the construction and restoration work soared from £45m to more than £110m, and St Mary's was dropped completely from the scheme due to concerns about the viability of creating dedicated new school buildings in the grounds.

Key developments since then have included the appointment of a new senior project team, including Mr Mackenzie as executive director, Kate Smith as development director and Jenny Jamison as creative director. New chair Carol Nimmo has replaced long-time figurehead William Gray Muir, who had led the project since 2015.

Revamped proposals, including the new gardens, which leading landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith is working on, were backed by the city council in July.

Mr Mackenzie revealed the estimated cost of the construction project is now £68m, with the Dunard Fund committing £45m (as well as the £10m endowment fund) and a further £10m being secured from private donors.

Mr Mackenzie said: “We’ve put in place a fairly rigorous process over the last 18 months or so to manage the project and move it forward.

“It had got to the point last year where it would not have been affordable. It would not have been appropriate for either the school or us.

“We’ve been able to focus on increase the amount of public space in the grounds and on the original Thomas Hamilton building. We’re not doing anything that doesn’t fit in with its heritage.

"We are still working on our business plan at the moment. One of our key priorities is that this project is sustainable, but I'm hugely encouraged by where we are at the moment. It is all stacking up.

"We have a fundraising strategy in place and we have already generated £10.2m in new support over the last six months.

“We've had a really positive start and we want to build on that momentum. We we start to talk to people about the project they are really interested in it. We believe we will be able to attract new support from various trusts and foundations.

"At the moment, we have a funding gap of £13 million, but we do have a contingency plan in place so we can have contractors on site next summer.

"I think we’re in a comfortable position at the moment. Getting to this stage, with the momentum we have built up over the last 18 months, it feels we are closer than ever before to being able to open up the building again.

"We’re currently doing some early investigative work around the site to make sure that when we start the main works we’ve robustly tested the building as much as possible.

"We are anticipating a two-year build programme. Will probably have the first concerts in late 2027 and will hopefully have a really interesting launch event.

"The trust was set up to try to preserve the building and find a new cultural use for it. I think we're now in a better position to deliver that than ever before."

Ms Grigor said: “The National Centre for Music will take its place confidently in Edinburgh’s cultural landscape, building on the city’s world-leading strengths as a UNESCO World Heritage City, a ‘Festival City’ and a forward-looking city that creates opportunity.

“The Dunard Fund is delighted to fund such a culturally significant project and one that will leave a lasting legacy.”

Inside the £68m arts project set to transform one of Edinburgh's most prominent landmarks by 2027

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