Edinburgh King's Theatre: Cost of revamp soars over £40m and reopening delayed until 2026

John Robb

As a result, the annual King's pantomime will have to be staged at the Festival Theatre for the fourth year running in 2025. But the refurbished theatre is expected to be ready for the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival.

The Evening News’ sister paper The Scotsman revealed the latest delay and cost rise, which means the completion of the work will now be three years later than originally envisaged and cost £15m more than first expected.

The King’s Theatre revamp will now cost £15m more than first announced and be completed three years late. | John Robb

There is currently a funding gap of at least £3.5m to finish the redevelopment. All the project’s main financial backers - the Scottish and UK governments, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Edinburgh City Council - will be approached for help.

Capital Theatres, who operate the venue for the city council, say the scale and complexity of the work to the A-listed building has led to the project taking much longer than anticipated and its cost rising from £35.6m to £40.7m in the space of 12 months.

However chief executive Fiona Gibson said the project had turned a corner, with all major demolition work done and 60 per cent of the construction programme now complete.

She told The Scotsman: "We will have to go round the houses again and talk to all our funders again about how we can bridge that gap.

“If you think about where this project was when it started, there has only been a 14 per cent increase in the cost of it, which I think is remarkable for a project of this scale in an Edwardian theatre like this. I'm quite proud of what we've managed to do so far and we've not changed the scope of anything in the project."

The revamp includes new staircases and lifts, as well as a ground-floor cafe-bar, a flatter stage to attract a greater variety of performances and improved backstage facilities.

The height of the building has been extended for a new "fly tower" to move scenery, previous bars and foyer areas are being overhauled, while a new dedicated space is being created on the upper floor for classes and workshops.

CapitalTheatreshas apologised for the latest setback, but insisted the project would deliver a "once-in-a-lifetime transformation of one of Edinburgh's most beloved cultural landmarks".

It is hoped all new facilities will be installed by the start of 2026 to allow "soft launch" test events to take place ahead of the first major productions in the spring.

First announced in March 2017, the revamp was originally due to get under way in September 2021 but was significantly delayed by the pandemic. TheKing'sclosed in the summer of 2022, however, weeks before work was meant to commence, it was announced that rising construction industry costs had created a significant funding gap.

Work finally began last spring after the Scottish Government and Edinburgh City Council provided an additional £6.85m, with the UK Government later approving a further £2m.