Exclusive:Edinburgh city centre to get first major new public gardens for 200 years

First designs for gardens overlooking Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle have been revealed as part of plans to turn the former Royal High School on Calton Hill into a new National Centre for Music.

The charity behind the project, which is being bankrolled by Scotland's biggest arts philanthropist, said the new gardens, work on which is expected to start in 2025, are aimed at creating an "oasis of calm" in the city centre.

However, the gardens, which are expected to cost around £8.4 million to create, and other outdoor spaces at the site are expected to host regular performances and events, particularly during the city's summer festivals season.

The Royal High School Preservation Trust, the charity pursuing the project, which will include a new indoor concert hall in the heart of the building, has pledged the new green spaces will be open to the public every day and free to access.

The two gardens, which will be created on either site of the building, are expected to be the most significant new green spaces in the heart of the Scottish capital since Princes Street Gardens were created in the 1820s, when the Royal Botanic Garden also opened in Inverleith.

One of the UK's leading landscape architects and garden designers has been brought in to lead the creation of the new gardens.

Tom Stuart-Smith has previously worked on projects at Windsor Castle, the Hepworth Wakefield gallery and museum in Yorkshire, the Chelsea Flower Show and Aldourie Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, as well a new Royal Horticultural Society garden in Salford.

He is collaborating with Edinburgh-based landscape architects OPEN, who have worked on Dundee's waterfront, including the area around the V&A Dundee museum and the nearby Slessor Gardens.

Scots Pine, Birch and Rowan trees will be planted in the west garden, while the east garden will feature an extensive flower garden and a pergola structure at the rear wall of the site.

The gardens vision has been revealed ahead of work starting on the long-awaited transformation of the A-listed building, which has been largely closed to the public since the Royal High School relocated in 1968.

The building was refurbished in the 1970s after being earmarked as a new parliament ahead of the 1979 devolution referendum, which failed to secure enough support, and the landmark was overlooked in favour of a purpose-built complex at Holyrood after the 1997 vote in favour of the transfer of power from Westminster.

Plans for a National Photography Centre in the building were abandoned after failing to secure enough financial support before the city council launched a competition to fund a hotel operator for the site.

However, a bitter dispute over the future of the site was triggered in 2015 when it emerged that a rival scheme - backed by philanthropist Carol Grigor - to create a new home in the building for St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh was being pursued.

The proposed hotel development was eventually scuppered in 2020 by the Scottish Government after a public enquiry.

The following year, the city council endorsed the alternative vision being bankrolled by Ms Grigor's Dunard Fund, which had by then expanded to include the idea of St Mary's sharing the site with a new National Centre for Music.

However, St Mary's was dropped last year due to the rising cost of the project, including the planned creation of new buildings next to the original landmark, designed by architect Thomas Hamilton, which dates back to 1829.

Scaled-back plans for the music centre, which will have a 300-seater concert hall as its centrepiece, were backed by councillors earlier this year. Other refurbished spaces are earmarked for performances, classes, workshops, rehearsals, dressing rooms, a cafe-restaurant and bar.

The main public entrance to the music school will lead from Regent Road into the west garden. That green space will be connected to the east garden by a terrace boasting panoramic views looking south across the city and a walkway to the north of the building, where there will also be space for pop-up venues for events and festivals.

A blueprint for the new gardens produced by Mr Stuart-Smith and the architectural practice he is working with states: “The old Royal High School boasts a picturesque setting. However, the grounds adjacent to the Thomas Hamilton building have historically lacked significant landscaping. Currently, the west entrance is dominated by a car park and sparse tree planting, with other areas used for parking and servicing.

“We propose preserving the magnificent and austere simplicity of Thomas Hamilton’s masterpiece. We aim to reintegrate the building into a wilder, greener and more biodiverse landscape, reflective of its original design intent and the unique character of the site.”

Mr Stuart Smith said: "Edinburgh's unique blend of urban architecture and dramatic landscape puts it in a league with cities like Athens and San Francisco. Our design aims to highlight this extraordinary setting while creating a tranquil retreat within the bustling city.

"The west and east gardens, though distinct in character, work in harmony to complement each other and the stunning architecture of the Royal High School building. This site is truly exceptional - the views are spectacular and the landscape is unparalleled.”

Grant Mackenzie, executive director of the Royal High School Preservation Trust, said: "These gardens will be the first new public garden space in Edinburgh city centre for centuries and they will become an area for everyone to enjoy.

"We want it to be a place for everyone to have access to and enjoy, and where better to take in such unrivalled views of the city than in a calming, tranquil garden environment.”

Speaking about her vision for the building, Ms Grigor said: "The National Centre for Music will take its place confidently in Edinburgh’s cultural landscape, building on the city’s world-leading strengths as a Unesco World Heritage City, a festival city and a forward-looking city that creates opportunity.”