Why a music school is the perfect use for a cultural beacon like the Royal High - William Gray Muir

The search for a suitable long-term use for the Royal High School has been one of the most intractable heritage problems in Scotland since the building was vacated in the 1960s.
Councillors have already backed plans to turn the Old Royal High School in Edinburgh into a new music school and concert hall. Councillors have already backed plans to turn the Old Royal High School in Edinburgh into a new music school and concert hall.
Councillors have already backed plans to turn the Old Royal High School in Edinburgh into a new music school and concert hall.

Its outstanding architectural qualities and commanding position belie an interior which is both surprisingly small and remarkably difficult to repurpose.

Whilst it came close to becoming the home to the Scottish Parliament in the 1970s, it now seems inconceivable that it could ever have met the complex demands of such a space hungry use. Proposals to use it as various forms of gallery and museum have come and gone as the practical problems of accessibility, interconnection and the constraints of the setting overwhelmed even the most committed supporters.

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In 2009 the Council promoted a competition to finally solve the problem.

The provisionally preferred answer was a boutique hotel, the final form of which was eventually made public in 2015. It was only at this point that it became apparent that this notionally good idea could only be delivered with the addition of two large wings which would permanently scar the building and its extraordinary setting.

Whilst it has taken a further five years for the hotel proposal to be finally laid to rest, the crisis did result in the formation of the Royal High School Preservation Trust, and the coming together of the strands which would allow the building to become Scotland’s National Music School.

Richard Murphy, one of Scotland’s most prominent architects, designed a brilliant scheme which both preserves the fabric and setting of the building, but also solves the problems of public accessibility. Perhaps most importantly it provides an entirely suitable use for one of our most important and prominent civic buildings. This scheme was granted planning consent in 2016 and is fully funded thanks to the extraordinary charitable commitment of Dunard Fund.

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We understand that with Scottish Ministers’ final rejection of the hotel developer’s appeals, the council can rescind the current contract and so be free to reconsider the future of the building. The importance of the building, but also the constraints it faces, are now better understood than ever. More than this the mistakes of the last few years show how important it is that any decision about its future is made with full transparency and with considered public support.

There is never going to be a better time to agree the way forward and everyone with a suitable and deliverable idea should bring it forward now. We at the Royal High School Preservation Trust look forward to having the chance to fully participate in the city’s deliberations with the intention of demonstrating the outstanding benefits our scheme can bring. We believe that we can offer a sustainable cultural use for the site, which offers huge public benefit at no public cost. The Royal High School was conceived as a cultural beacon for an enlightened Scotland. How better can we preserve that spirit than by creating a new national Music School and concert hall for the benefit of the whole of Scotland?

William Gray Muir is chairman of the Royal High School Preservation Trust