Dunard Centre Heritage Enabling Works
A complex programme of conservation, excavation and structural works delivered within the curtilage of one of Edinburgh's most important listed buildings. The project creates new archive accommodation, access infrastructure and landscape works that support the future operation of the Dunard Centre while carefully responding to the significance of 35 St Andrew Square and its World Heritage Site setting.
The Dunard Centre is transforming a previously inaccessible part of Edinburgh's First New Town into a major new cultural destination. Before construction of the concert hall could begin, a programme of heritage enabling works was undertaken to prepare the site and reveal elements of its historic development that had been concealed for decades.
Working within the curtilage of the Category A listed Dundas House and 35 St Andrew Square, the project involved the careful removal of a series of twentieth-century additions, including the former annex buildings to the rear of Dundas House. Their demolition exposed substantial areas of historic masonry and reinstated an understanding of the building's original form and relationship with its setting.
The works included the repair and reinstatement of the east façade of Dundas House, conservation of exposed historic fabric, formation of new openings and interfaces with the future concert hall, and extensive masonry repairs using traditional materials and detailing.
At 35 St Andrew Square, alterations to the garden and former service areas created the infrastructure required to support the future operation of the venue. New landscape works, archive accommodation, access routes and boundary treatments were carefully integrated within the historic setting, responding to the significance of one of the earliest surviving buildings in Edinburgh's New Town.
The project demonstrates a conservation-led approach to adaptive reuse, balancing the requirements of a major contemporary cultural building with the careful repair, interpretation and enhancement of an internationally significant historic environment.
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Completion
2024Client
IMPACT ScotlandHeritage Designation
Category A Listed Buildings within the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Area and UNESCO World Heritage Site -
Client
IMPACT ScotlandArchitects
Reiach and Hall Architects and David Chipperfield ArchitectsMain Contractor
Sir Robert McAlpineProject Manager / Cost Consultant
Turner & TownsendStructural & Civil Engineer
Harley HaddowLandscape Architect
Gross MaxQuantity Surveyor
Thomson Gray -
The Dunard Centre is transforming a previously inaccessible part of Edinburgh's First New Town into a major new cultural destination. Before construction of the concert hall could begin, a programme of heritage enabling works was undertaken to prepare the site and reveal elements of its historic development that had been concealed for decades.
Working within the curtilage of the Category A listed Dundas House and 35 St Andrew Square, the project involved the careful removal of a series of twentieth-century additions, including the former annex buildings to the rear of Dundas House. Their demolition exposed substantial areas of historic masonry and reinstated an understanding of the building's original form and relationship with its setting.
The works included the repair and reinstatement of the east façade of Dundas House, conservation of exposed historic fabric, formation of new openings and interfaces with the future concert hall, and extensive masonry repairs using traditional materials and detailing.
At 35 St Andrew Square, alterations to the garden and former service areas created the infrastructure required to support the future operation of the venue. New landscape works, archive accommodation, access routes and boundary treatments were carefully integrated within the historic setting, responding to the significance of one of the earliest surviving buildings in Edinburgh's New Town.
The project demonstrates a conservation-led approach to adaptive reuse, balancing the requirements of a major contemporary cultural building with the careful repair, interpretation and enhancement of an internationally significant historic environment.