Scheme first given planning in 2019 expected to finish in 2029
Balfour Beatty has been appointed to build a new concert hall in Edinburgh that had first been earmarked for Sir Robert McAlpine.
The country’s biggest builder announced this morning that it will build the Dunard Centre under a £162m deal.
Balfour said its deal for the International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust Scotland, the organisation behind the project, was signed off after 18 months of pre-construction work “to develop the construction methodology, sequencing, logistics and buildability for the tightly constrained city centre site”.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that McAlpine, which was lined up the job in 2019, was no longer on the scheme after completing pre-construction work last year.
The chairty’s chief executive Jo Buckley told the Herald in March: “As a charity, our procurement goals have always been to ensure best value for money and maximum cost certainty. Unfortunately, we could no longer achieve those requirements with McAlpine.”
The Dunard Centre has been designed by Chipperfield and Reiach & Hall and was originally granted planning six years ago. At the time, the scheme had a price tag of £45m.
As well as a 1,000-seat auditorium, the job will also include a café, bar and multifunctional spaces for a variety of events alongside a complex in-situ concrete double basement which will house performer changing and storage areas as well as back of house facilities.
As part of the deal, Balfour will construct a five-storey steel frame with an envelope façade of pre-cast concrete panels.
Nick Rowan, managing director of Balfour Beatty’s regional business in Scotland, said: “We have worked meticulously to plan every stage of this complex build, from construction logistics in a tightly constrained site, to the precision needed to achieve world-class acoustic performance.
“Our focus now is on safe, efficient and high-quality delivery, working closely with our local supply chain while creating meaningful jobs, apprenticeships and skills opportunities throughout the programme.”
Main construction will commence in the coming weeks with completion expected in 2029.
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