The Ross Development Trust, a Scottish charity working in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, wanted to find an outstanding design team for a c. £25m project to regenerate and renew Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens.
This nationally-important space, perfectly positioned below Edinburgh Castle in the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh UNESCO World Heritage site, is a much-loved green oasis as well as the seasonal focus for some of Scotland’s most high-profile events.
This project will replace the now-obsolete Ross Bandstand with a landmark Pavilion, sitting alongside a new visitor centre and café – with the whole integrated into the surrounding gardens. The Pavilion will host the kind of imaginative arts events which Edinburgh excels in.
The competition’s open first stage attracted 125 entries from 22 countries and at the jury meeting the team led by wHY was chosen as the winner for an organic scheme that animates the Gardens while allowing the Castle to remain the main visual event.
The Ross Development Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council were delighted with the competition’s global reach and media impact, with the winner announcement featured in around 460 publications internationally.
At the competition’s conclusion, Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Culture and Communities Convener, said:
‘We have seen some of the most influential architects and landscapers join forces to compete to design the new Ross Pavilion. The huge international interest in the competition is testament to Edinburgh’s standing as one of the world’s most beautiful and creative settings for live performance.’
