By PHYLLIS STEPHENANNELEEN LINDSAY’S photographs show
the progress being made at the King’s Theatre
where a £36.5 million project to renovate the
Old Lady of Leven Street is underway, funded
by the Scottish Government, The City of
Edinburgh Council, National Lottery Heritage
Fund and donations from thousands of
members of the public.
The stage house will be updated and the
stage de-raked. For the first time, the venue will
be fully accessible with lifts located both front
and back of house, alongside a new Creative
Engagement studio for community and
education groups.
John Robb, Technical Director at Capital
Theatres said: “The work on the King’s Theatre
renovation is proceeding at great pace. None of
the beautiful marble stairways are changing,
however the old concrete fire escapes are in the
process of being demolished and will be
replaced with new stairs and lifts. This will
make every level of the theatre accessible to
people with mobility issues for the first time in
its long history.
“Robertson Construction, our architects
Bennetts, and all of us at Capital Theatres are
tremendously excited to be part of this fabulous
project to breathe new life into the King’s,
so it will continue to captivate and entertain
future generations, just as it has done for
others over its 117-year life. It is also great to
have photographer Anneleen Lindsay takingsuch fantastic photographs throughout the
renovation, so we will have an amazing
record of the process and changes to the
building. I am so looking forward to spring
2025 when we can bring everyone who loves
the King’s as much as we do, back in to see
the improvements.”
The Robertson site team explained it is
working closely with the theatre’s customer and
design teams and said that the next major
project milestone is the erection of the
steelwork for the new fly tower.
Robertson have worked with the council to
use Tarvit Street for logistics, also siting a crane
there to distribute materials across most of the
site. The crane will help to install and upgrade
the fly tower, assist with internal structural
alterations and with the removal of materials
from the front-of-house demolition.
So that the theatre can host internationallarge scale touring productions, the fly tower
will be extended, raised and refurbished.
Imogen Ensoli, Technical & Operations
Co-ordinator Capital Theatres, explained more.
She said: “A fly tower is an architectural theatre
term, the ideal fly tower should be more than
twice the height of the proscenium arch. Any
flown pieces of set or backcloths when they’ve
been flown out (of sight) so the audience can’t
see them need to have as much space above the
stage for storage as when they are flown in on
the stage. Think of it like a big hanging
wardrobe above the stage but for the set and
backcloths. By increasing the height of the fly
tower by 5 metres it gives us far more flexibility
for incoming productions.”
David Cairns of Robertson Construction
Central East, said: “Serving as one of Scotland’s
oldest and most loved theatres, King’s Theatre
has staged shows since 1906 and has played a
significant role in Edinburgh’s live
entertainment sector. The works will protect
and enhance the built heritage of the theatre,
safeguarding it for generations to come.
“An important part of what we do, is to
understand and respect the buildings where we
are working. There are so many parts of the
building that are being preserved and retained
and in order to ensure that we could carry out
these works to the highest quality, members of
our team have undertaken specialist restoration
training. We look forward to its reopening in
2025 when once again this iconic theatre will
be in spotlight.”3
By STAFF REPORTERFOLLOWING AN inspection by
Education Scotland at Rowanfield
Special School on Groathill Road North
a couple of areas for improvement
were identified.
Inspectors noted that the school staff
were found to have a nurturing
approach, responding sensitively to
children’s emotion and helping the
children to engage successfully in
learning activities. But they also
discussed with the headteacher and a
representative from The City of
Edinburgh Council that senior leaders
should develop “more personalised and
consistent ways to assess and record
children’s progress in learning”. It was
also suggested that staff should continue
to raise children’s attainment in reading,
writing and numeracy.POSITIVE COMMENT
The report included this positive
comment: “All teachers use a nurturing
and relational approach well within
lessons and encourage children to
develop a sense of belonging within the
school. Staff have a strong focus on
children’s emotional regulation and take
effective steps to help children get ready
for learning. Almost all teachers tune in
well to children’s emotions and
demonstrate positive relationships to
help children cope better with the
challenge of learning. This is helping
children to stay in school for longer than
they were able to sustain in previous
placements. Children’s attendance
improves significantly when compared
to their levels at previous schools.”
The non-denominational school
provides specialist education for
45 children on the school roll in
eight classes. The children who
attend the school have a range of
additional support needs which
prevent them accessing a full-time
mainstream education.
There is also a separate part of the
school for 12 children in two classes with
complex social communication and
learning needs.
Since the pandemic there have been
changes to around half of the support
staff and teachers with new staff
appointed as replacements.School inspection
at Rowanfield
Work in progress
Multi million pound King’s Theatre project is “proceeding at great pace”