Venue Focus
The Princess Royal hosts a
number of events including
banquets, gala balls,
exhibitions, conferences
and car launches. Offering
11 suites over four floors, the
largest having 1000-person
capacity, the venue also has
over 150 acres of land which
can house outdoor events.
Each suite is equipped
with large plasma screens,
situated around the room,
to give delegates a good
view of the proceedings.
These can be interfaced
with PowerPoint for
presentations, company
advertising, or the ‘in house’
conference cameras in the
larger suites.
Besides the events at the
racecourse, Ayr has a number
of other sights to see,
including:
• The birthplace of the man
voted greatest Scot ever to
live, Scottish poet Robert
Burns – the Robert Burns
Birthplace Museum is an
interactive museum with
more than 5,000 artefacts
on display including a
number of his original
manuscripts
• Culzean Castle, a clifftop
castle on the Ayrshire
coastline which dates
back to the 18th century
and has more than 568
acres of gardens and land.
The castle was the family
holiday home of choice
for President Dwight D
Eisenhower, and with
just six bedrooms, The
Eisenhower Hotel at
Culzean Castle is now
one of the most exclusive
places to stay in Scotland.
Dundee
Dundee is home to the
58 — February
Ayr Racecourse
world’s first V&A museum
located outside of London,
the V&A Dundee.
The museum opened
in September 2018 and is
Scotland’s first dedicated
design museum. The
V&A Dundee is home to a
Scottish Design Gallery,
which collates around 300
exhibits from world-famous
collections of art and pieces
from Scottish designers,
in addition to being a great
space for launch parties.
The idea for a V&A
museum in Dundee
originated at the University
of Dundee in 2007 when
Professor Georgina Follett
(then Dean of Duncan of
Jordanstone College of Art
and Design) suggested it
to University Principal, Sir
Alan Langlands. Following
this, the idea was pitched
to Sir Mark Jones, then
director of the Victoria
and Albert Museum. It was
suggested that the museum
be built in Dundee due to its
‘potential as an anchor for
the urban regeneration of the
waterfront’. In 2010, a design
competition took place to
decide what the museum
would look like and Japanese
architect Kengo Kuma won
the competition for his
design, which was inspired
by the eastern cliff edges of
Scotland.
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) Dundee
The V&A Dundee opened
on 15 September 2018, and
attracted 27,201 visitors
during its first week and
100,000 in its first three. It
was then officially opened
by Prince William, Duke of
Cambridge and Catherine,
Duchess of Cambridge in a
private official opening on 28
January 2019. By 30 March
2019, the museum achieved
its target of 500,000 visitors
within a year, six months
earlier than expected.
The venue includes a
number of rooms, including
the Scottish Design
Galleries, which feature
permanent design works
from across Scotland, and
the Oak Room, which was
originally completed in
1908 by Charles Rennie
Mackintosh and was
commissioned by Catherine
Cranston, who planned to
use it as a tea room. It took
16 months and £1.3m to
conserve and restore the
room from over 700 original
parts..
Besides the V&A museum,
Dundee has a number of
other visitor attractions like:
• The Ancrum Outdoor
Centre, which provides
a range of outdoor
experiences all year
round, including alpine
skiing, mountain biking
Whitewater rafting and
sea kayaking
• The St Andrews Links,
which is referred to as
the home of golf, is the
largest public golf complex
in Europe, and has seven
courses to choose from.
Next year, St Andrews
will host the 150th Open
tournament on its Old
Course. EN