IMPACT Scotland is the charitable organisation responsible for overseeing the creation and running of the Dunard Centre, Edinburgh’s first purpose-built concert hall for more than a century.
Designed by David Chipperfield Architects and Nagata Acoustics, this all-purpose performance venue will have at its heart a world-class auditorium that champions the very best in live performance across all genres, and ensures everyone can be part of it. Our ambition is to create an open and welcoming space for life-enhancing and life-changing experiences, crossing generations and communities.
This landmark building will become home to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Edinburgh International Festival; it will be a vibrant, creative hub that teems with life all day, matching the vibrancy and diversity of three weeks in August in a year-round offer. Designed to slot into a bustling city centre site fringed by heritage buildings, its 1000-seat auditorium, bars, workshop rooms and recording facilities will host a diverse programme that combines classical, pop, rock, folk, jazz, spoken word and electronica. Its innovative and wide-reaching community engagement programme will connect artists, audiences and communities in year-round opportunities for lifelong learning.
The Dunard Centre benefits from the generous support of the Dunard Fund — a long-term funder of the arts and music in Scotland — and is the cultural centrepiece of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, a transformative partnership between the UK and Scottish Governments and City of Edinburgh Council.
Through the support of Royal Bank of Scotland, the Dunard Centre will be built in the heart of Edinburgh, behind and directly connected to the Bank’s historic registered office at 36 St Andrew Square.
Enabling works on site are nearing completion and IMPACT Scotland is now preparing for the Dunard Centre’s four-year main construction period.
There are many ways you can support the project and help us realise our vision – see our Support Us pages for more details.
To bring more music to more people, transforming communities through culture.
International excellence in art and culture are a permanent and inescapable part of Edinburgh's identity: it is the world’s leading festival city. But the exceptional quality and diversity of its festival offerings are not supported by a curated, world-class programme year-round, nor does this vibrant and creative festival spirit have a permanent space for imaginative and collaborative working. Our community deserves a purpose-built, state-of-the-art, 1000-seater concert hall, a venue whose acoustics and design are fit to welcome the world’s very best performers year-round, but is just as much a home for the city and its people. Exceptional acoustics and cutting-edge design connect the world’s best performers to the world’s best crowds.
Designed by David Chipperfield Architects and Nagata Acoustics, the Dunard Centre will be Edinburgh’s first purpose-built concert hall for more than a century, and the first Nagata hall in all the UK. Its purpose is to meet the city’s need for a mid-size concert hall of exceptional quality, expanding the vibrancy, diversity and quality of three weeks in August into a year-round offer. But its ambition far exceeds these practical demands. Home to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Edinburgh International Festival, alongside a fleet of other cross-artform partners, the Dunard Centre will become a vibrant, creative hive of activity that connect artists, audiences and communities, transforming Scotland’s cultural landscape. Its wide-reaching community engagement programme — which will be delivered in partnership with a network of cultural and third sector organisations — will create meaningful pathways for lifelong learning.
Excellence & Ambition
This is a Nagata-designed hall, bringing their unmatched acoustic pedigree for the first time to the UK, a national resource not just for Scotland but for the UK as a whole. It will foreground and celebrate the very best in live performance across all artforms and develop a space which offers life-changing experiences that cannot be found elsewhere. In curating a programme that is vibrant, diverse, ambitious and unparalleled, it will invest in the future, inspiring, nurturing and developing new generations, through a hall that has been gifted to them for life.
Inclusivity
The Dunard Centre offers a rare opportunity to create a welcoming, inclusive and creative artistic hub at the heart of Edinburgh city centre, an intimate and accessible space that is open to all and which actively seeks out new listeners, a building which teems with life every day. It will democratise and demystify the arts, without ever swerving from its mission to champion and foster excellence.
Lifelong Learning
The Dunard Centre will be a site for formative artistic experiences and will support its local communities — as well as those further afield — on their lifelong artistic journeys. The inclusive nature of the Dunard Centre will create a pathway to a lifetime of creativity and collaboration across all parts of society. Everyone will be welcomed wholeheartedly into this unique, collaborative space, and encouraged to experiment and explore.
Partnerships
Partnerships will be the cornerstone of the Dunard Centre’s mission, actively seeking more joined up provision across the cultural sector and, in turn, transforming the cultural landscape into one that is more active, more equal, and ultimately more powerful. These partnerships will underpin the development of a bold, courageous, and creative hub, one which brings together existing initiatives and sparks innovative new ideas through the frisson of close collaborative working. Together, we will advocate for and strengthen the message around the vital part that culture plays in society.
Sustainability
The Dunard Centre will be a beacon for sustainable working in the twenty-first century. Its ambition to become a zero-carbon building within a decade of its opening will underpin all areas of its activity and become a proactive mindset. From reusable coffee cups to renewable energy, no aspect of the Dunard Centre will be too large or too small to be considered in meeting our targets for sustainability. The location could not be better placed to speak to this, with an adjacent tram stop, nearby local and national bus services and Waverley Station within 5-minutes walking distance. Our aim is to become a leading example of what a green hall can be.
To create a ‘Hall for All’, a world-class concert hall in the heart of Edinburgh: a creative, collaborative space that hums with activity all day every day, bringing exceptional live music to everyone.
A place that showcases the world’s leading artists across all genres and which provides a home for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a major new venue for the Edinburgh International Festival. A place for bold and imaginative new ways of working, which brings together different people, different artforms and different perspectives, encouraging people to take risks, to be bold, to explore new genres and new ideas. A space that is open, warm and people-centred from back office to front of house. A centre that champions cultural excellence and shares these skills and practices with a new generation. An exceptional space for live music, a place of joy and collaboration, a playground for the imagination. An exemplar for the twenty-first century concert hall.
To bring more music to more people, transforming communities through culture.
International excellence in art and culture are a permanent and inescapable part of Edinburgh’s identity: it is the world’s leading festival city. But the exceptional quality and diversity of its festival offerings are not supported by a curated, world-class programme year-round, nor does this vibrant and creative festival spirit have a permanent space for imaginative and collaborative working. Our community deserves a purpose-built, state-of-the-art, 1000-seater concert hall, a venue whose acoustics and design are fit to welcome the world’s very best performers year-round, but is just as much a home for the city and its people. Exceptional acoustics and cutting-edge design connect the world’s best performers to the world’s best crowds.
Designed by David Chipperfield Architects and Nagata Acoustics, the Dunard Centre will be Edinburgh’s first purpose-built concert hall for more than a century, and the first Nagata hall in all the UK. Its purpose is to meet the city’s need for a mid-size concert hall of exceptional quality, expanding the vibrancy, diversity and quality of three weeks in August into a year-round offer. But its ambition far exceeds these practical demands. Home to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Edinburgh International Festival, alongside a fleet of other cross-artform partners, the Dunard Centre will become a vibrant, creative hive of activity that connect artists, audiences and communities, transforming Scotland’s cultural landscape. Its wide-reaching community engagement programme — which will be delivered in partnership with a network of cultural and third sector organisations — will create meaningful pathways for lifelong learning.
Excellence & Ambition
This is a Nagata-designed hall, bringing their unmatched acoustic pedigree for the first time to the UK, a national resource not just for Scotland but for the UK as a whole. It will foreground and celebrate the very best in live performance across all artforms and develop a space which offers life-changing experiences that cannot be found elsewhere. In curating a programme that is vibrant, diverse, ambitious and unparalleled, it will invest in the future, inspiring, nurturing and developing new generations, through a hall that has been gifted to them for life.
Inclusivity
The Dunard Centre offers a rare opportunity to create a welcoming, inclusive and creative artistic hub at the heart of Edinburgh city centre, an intimate and accessible space that is open to all and which actively seeks out new listeners, a building which teems with life every day. It will democratise and demystify the arts, without ever swerving from its mission to champion and foster excellence.
Lifelong Learning
The Dunard Centre will be a site for formative artistic experiences and will support its local communities — as well as those further afield — on their lifelong artistic journeys. The inclusive nature of the Dunard Centre will create a pathway to a lifetime of creativity and collaboration across all parts of society. Everyone will be welcomed wholeheartedly into this unique, collaborative space, and encouraged to experiment and explore.
Partnerships
Partnerships will be the cornerstone of the Dunard Centre’s mission, actively seeking more joined up provision across the cultural sector and, in turn, transforming the cultural landscape into one that is more active, more equal, and ultimately more powerful. These partnerships will underpin the development of a bold, courageous, and creative hub, one which brings together existing initiatives and sparks innovative new ideas through the frisson of close collaborative working. Together, we will advocate for and strengthen the message around the vital part that culture plays in society.
Sustainability
The Dunard Centre will be a beacon for sustainable working in the twenty-first century. Its ambition to become a zero-carbon building within a decade of its opening will underpin all areas of its activity and become a proactive mindset. From reusable coffee cups to renewable energy, no aspect of the Dunard Centre will be too large or too small to be considered in meeting our targets for sustainability. The location could not be better placed to speak to this, with an adjacent tram stop, nearby local and national bus services and Waverley Station within 5-minutes walking distance. Our aim is to become a leading example of what a green hall can be.
