Nearly a year ago we reached the long-anticipated milestone of stepping foot onto our new site in the heart of Edinburgh’s historic New Town. A typically dreich February saw building contractors, demolition experts and heavy machinery take up residence on the new site to do the hard graft of clearing the ground and carefully demolishing the Royal Bank of Scotland’s old 1960s computer block.
It’s hard to imagine that this long-hidden gap site – not much larger than a football pitch – will be the place where a 1000-seater concert hall will stand. A place that will welcome future generations through its doors for many decades to come.
This site goes back many hundreds of years - once upon a time, it is said that a pub called the Peace and Plenty stood proudly on the spot, famous for the curds and cream it offered locals seeking refuge from the dark and polluted Old Town.
Now the story of this site continues, with perhaps its biggest transformation yet. We sent drones into the air on a clear, chilly morning in January, before the industrious activity of the site clearance began. And now, nearing the end of the year, that old five-story office block is gone, and we decided to do the same again.
The footprint of the site can now be seen in all its glory and complexity – how it nestles between a cluster of the very old and the very new landmark buildings that surround it; how bus, tram and train hubs are right on the doorstep for the easiest of access.
We intend to continue to mark our progress from the ground and the skies. There’s plenty more magic to come!
Our thanks go to Andy Smith AKA Mr Smith for capturing the site by drone.
