Introducing Our Architect Design Team
Leith Theatre, 2025. Photo by Collin Hattersley
It is with great delight that we can confirm the appointment of Holmes Miller as our Architect Design Team for the next stage of our Back to Life: the theatre that isn’t just a theatre project. This new chapter marks an exciting key milestone within our National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported development phase, one that the Trust has anticipated for a long time.
The appointment follows a significant tender process, undertaken to find a design partner capable of realising the ambition for one of Leith’s most valued heritage assets. Their work will be crucial in providing the technical detail, architectural vision and expertise needed to progress towards a Delivery Phase.
Homes Miller will bring to bear experience gained on successful heritage refurbishments of Paisley Town Hall (pictured) and Watford Town Hall, both of which are performing arts venues of significant historic and cultural value.
Associate Architect Steven Coulson had the following to say about their appointment:
“Firstly, it is a genuine pleasure to be able to work with a client team who so obviously love and respect the Leith Theatre building. The Leith Theatre Trust hold a core value to maintain the heritage integrity and beauty of the existing 1932 building. This respect for history is balanced against a highly aspirational and inspiring client brief, which aims not just to refurbish the Theatre, but to reinvent it.
As architects, we relish the opportunity to breathe new life into a meaningful cultural and community landmark. I personally am excited about making a building fit for everyone. This will include breaking down barriers to attendance – physical, accessibility, psychological or status, so that we can reunite this remarkable building, originally gifted to the people of Leith, back to the whole community.”
The Holmes Miller approach brings together careful conservation with sustainable, flexible design, aligning closely with our ambitions.
Reaching this appointment has taken years of work, planning and preparation. Over the past two years we have collaborated with Architecture & Design students at the University of Strathclyde, and now we are seeing the value of this incredible experience as we become a real client, giving us space to experiment, understand process and articulate the ambitions we now carry forward with confidence.
Leith Theatre 2019, Photo by Gaelle Beri
Along the way, our Memory Project has reminded us why this work matters. People shared extraordinary stories of the theatre’s past - nights of music, community, connection and the kind of experiences that stay with you for a lifetime! One contributor described gigs at Leith Theatre as “really magical evenings…like when you’re a wee kid and you wake up on Christmas morning...you can hardly believe you’re there watching the band you saw last month on TV or the band you’ve been struggling for weeks to play on the guitar.” These memories underline not only the building’s rich history but also its ongoing potential. As a mid-size venue located outside the city centre, Leith Theatre offers an intimate, vibrant space that continues to meet the needs of audiences and performers alike, making its revival an opportunity to secure Edinburgh a truly distinctive cultural venue.
Now, with a committed design team, we are entering a phase where those ambitions can begin taking shape. This is where the detail, the vision and the long-term thinking come together to form a viable and vibrant future for this heritage building.
Bob Last, Chair of Leith Theatre Trust, captured this moment perfectly, saying:
“I am excited that Holmes Miller are bringing their architectural imagination and experience to Leith Theatre, helping the Trust articulate a future for the building and its audiences and community that is forward-looking but infused with the deeply personal meanings the building has acquired over generations of use.”
Lynn Morrison, Chief Executive from Leith Theatre Trust, said:
“Holmes Miller joining us as our Architect Design Team feels like the start of a new chapter in a story that has taken decades to reach this point. Leith Theatre means so much to so many people, and carrying the responsibility for its future is something we feel deeply. I am pleased to welcome Steven and the wider Holmes Miller team as we begin the detailed work required to bring Leith Theatre back into permanent use.
Their expertise will help us find practical, sensitive solutions for a building that presents both enormous character and real challenges. This marks the start of a steady, thoughtful revival that will allow this treasured venue to take its place once again in Leith’s community and Edinburgh's wider cultural landscape.”
We are excited for what comes next! We’re coming for you, Leith. 💙