Project Title: Edinburgh Festival Centre - The Hub
Client: The Edinburgh Festival Society
Project Value: £4.2m
Hulley contact: Michael O'Donnell
This building used to be the Church of Scotland’s Tolbooth St. John’s Church, 1839 - 44. The tip of the 50m high ‘black dagger’ spire is the tallest built work in Edinburgh. Pugin was instrumental in achieving the drama – designing the spire, entrance vestibule and the Lord High Commissioner’s throne; the architect for the main body of the church was James Gillespie Graham.
The building is now home to the Edinburgh International Festival Offices and serves as a multi–purpose Venue for the Edinburgh International Festival Society year round, with a main Performance/Banqueting Hall and Stage, full commercial standard kitchen capable of servicing 250 covers per sitting, fully air conditioned Offices within the Attic Space, Café and Ticket Dispensing Area and associated Support Accommodation.
Hulley & Kirkwood’s design approach to the servicing of the building was holistic in manner, an amalgam of deep understanding of the building and site, the Client’s needs, the future, the Public’s needs and creativity, carried out in a sensitive manner.
The ventilation approach to the Main Hall is highly energy efficient and effective in use, employing a variable air volume full fresh air system with free cooling employed most of the year, but with back up mechanical cooling employed for extreme conditions. The system is highly attenuated to suit the strictest of internal and external noise criteria. The Hall also contains a fully flexible lighting installation to cater for both small events and large Theatre Productions which is integrated with a full Theatre sound and speech system.
