Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh)

Assembly Rooms
The Assembly Rooms
Coordinates	55°57′11″N 3°11′57″W / 55.9530°N 3.1991°WCoordinates: 55°57′11″N 3°11′57″W / 55.9530°N 3.1991°W
Listed Building – Category A
Designated	13 January 1966
Reference no.	27567
Location in central Edinburgh

The Assembly Rooms are meeting halls in central Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally solely a meeting place for social gatherings, it is now also used as an arts venue and for public events, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Hogmanay celebrations. There are four rooms, with moveable chairs or tables, that are used year-round and are available for private functions: Music Hall, Ballroom, Supper Room and Edinburgh Suite.

The total meeting space, as remodeled in 2012, covers 4,600 m² (50,000 sq ft).^[1] The building is protected as a category A listed building as "an outstanding example of the late 18th century public building, continuing its original use".^[2]

History

The Assembly Rooms opened on 11 January 1787 for the Caledonian Hunt Ball.^[3] The building was funded by public subscription, costing over £6,000.^[2] The prominent site at the centre of George Street, in the centre of the recently established New Town, was donated by the town council.^[2]

The Assembly Rooms was designed by John Henderson, who was selected as architect having won a competition in 1781 for the design of the new Assembly Rooms. The original design went through three revisions before construction eventually began in 1783. ^[4] Henderson went on to die young shortly after the building was completed.^[2]

In August 1822, a Peers Ball was held in the Assembly Rooms on the occasion of a visit by King George IV to Edinburgh.^[4]

The building was extended several times during the nineteenth century. In 1818, 22 years since the opening of the Assembly Rooms, the grand portico was added by architect William Burn.^[4] Burn and his partner David Bryce went on to design the Music Hall in 1843.^[2]

Finally, in 1907, new side wings were completed to designs by Robert Rowand Anderson and Balfour Paul.^[2] The extension also saw the inclusion of a new Supper Room, relocating the kitchen to the newly established eastern wing. ^[4]

Refurbishment

In 2011, a £9.3M refurbishment project began, resulting in modernised spaces that retain the Assembley Rooms' original character.

Funding for the project came from Edinburgh Council, with additional contributions from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland, the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland. The renovation was managed by LDN Architects while construction was managed by Balfour Beatty.^[5]

Current use

The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh is a multi-purpose event space, regularly hosting conferences, dinners, performances, exhibitions and weddings.

The venue has two major event spaces, The Ballroom and the Music Hall, and another nine drawing rooms. The venue is decorated throughout with crystal chandeliers, gold leaf and gilt mirrors while also incorporating modern technology.^[6]

Room Details^[7]

Room	Max capacity	Area
Music Hall	788	481m²
Ball Room	400	342m²

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Every year the Assembly Rooms are used as one of the venues for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Assembly Rooms were originally operated by the Assembly Festival group, who took their name from the building. Assembly grew from that base to operate from venues such as Assembly Hall, an 840 seat theatre on the Mound (the largest and oldest operating Fringe venue) that was formerly the home of the Scottish Parliament.^[8] and buildings around George Square.

For a short while, Assembly (the company) lost the contract to operate the building during the Fringe to Salt 'n' Sauce Promotions, operators of The Stand Comedy Club. However, from 2016, the contract returned to them.^[9]

External links

• Official website

References

1. "RIAS - The Assembly Rooms". rias.org.uk. 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
2. "54 George Street and 53a Rose Street, Assembly Rooms and Music Hall: Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
3. "Assembly Rooms Edinburgh - The History". assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
4. "The Assembly Rooms - History of the Building". www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
5. "The Assembly Rooms - Refurbishment". www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
6. "The Assembly Rooms". www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
7. "The Assembly Rooms - Venue Details". www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
8. Bennett, Steve (2005-05-12). "BBC - Comedy Blog - For Odd's Sake". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
9. "Assembly Rooms". Edinburgh Guide. Retrieved 18 March 2016.