FEATURES
PROJECTS
removal of the upper balcony area. This allowed the upper
circle to be extended back and its rake altered to form an
enlarged upper circle. The intention was to improve the
sight lines, which although partly successful, has resulted in
the rear section of this area feeling somewhat detached
from the rest of the auditorium.
In 1969 the building was bought by the City of
Edinburgh Council. They continued to run it as a theatre,
but by the 1980s the building was again in need of further
work. In 1985 it underwent an eight month refurbishment
programme. This included replacing all the seats with new
tip-up seats in a cinema or ‘Pullman’ style. Sight lines were
further adjusted, and the central aisle in the stalls was
removed and replaced with two side aisles. The orchestra
pit was enlarged, and the Viennese baroque auditorium
was restored to its original colour scheme. The dome in
the centre was repainted with a new design based on the
four seasons, and externally some stonework repairs were
carried out.
The King’s continued to be well used, especially during
the pantomime season, when upwards of 80,000 visitors
came to performances. This extensive patronage began to
take its toll on the building and by the turn of this century
it was evident that a further major refurbishment was
required. In 2010, the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC)
appointed Smith Scott Mullan Associates to undertake a
£2million refurbishment of the building. This was joint
funded by CEC, Historic Scotland and The Nancie Massey
Trust. Their brief was based on undertaking essential fabric
repairs, along with improving access and general visitor
experience. The running of the theatre is undertaken by
Festival City Theatres Trust (FCTT), who has a lease
agreement with the council. Their input was vital in relation
to prioritising works within the relatively small budget.
There had been a number of previous proposed
projects prepared on the building, none of which had been
realised. We reviewed these and proposed a scope of
works that would address all the main issues. These
included a full roof replacement with insulation, extensive
stonework repairs, refurbishment of windows and doors,
formation of a new box office with level access to the
foyer, installation of a platform lift to the rear of the stalls,
redecoration of the foyer, and installation of new seats to
the stalls and dress circle.
The works had to be completed by the end of July
AUTUMN 2013
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THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND
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