Getting there and counting down

The auditorium is gearing up for the opening night Festival on the 14th August. We reported recently that the glass wing is slightly behind schedule and will not be ready for the Edinburgh International Festival in August. The plan is to 'bubble wrap' it until it is. Here is a link to the article in today's Edinburgh Evening News.

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Usher-Hall39s-refit-won39t-be.5382280.jp

The good news is that the rest of the hall - the staircases, podium, bars, toilets, etc., are nearing completion. The new internal colour scheme looks stunning. I can walk around the site now and can get a real sense of the finished article, and while it is frustrating that the wing won't be ready for August, I can promise you that the finished project is going to be wonderful.

The way that the architect has blended the old and new is tremendous and you can really celebrate the existing architecture in a way that you didn't before. The facade on Grindlay Street was largely ignored (or suffered from graffiti) but you can now see it as an internal wall when you stand inside the wing.

(Quiet) work will continue inside the wing during the festival so we can speed up the completion date.