The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Designers reveal radical proposals for Perth City Hall
‘Really important day’ for Fair City as plans for £20 million project are unveiled
Leading European architects have unveiled their radical visions for the future of Perth City Hall.
A rooftop garden, huge glass walls, an “external skystair” and a gallery described as “Perth’s Living Room” all feature in eye-catching concepts for the long-vacant building.
The proposals were produced as part of a global contest to find a designer for the £20 million project. Perth and Kinross Council want to turn the empty hall into a major cultural attraction, capable of bringing in more than 100,000 visitors a year.
Local authority leaders received about 70 ideas from designers across the world. These have been whittled down to a shortlist of just five.
The designs went on display at the council’s High Street headquarters.
Feedback from the public will be used to inform a final decision to be taken by councillors, following advice from an expert panel, in August.
Fiona Robertson, the council’s head of culture and community development, said: “This is a really important day for us. We are looking at the redevelopment of Perth City Hall as part of a suite of big capital projects, including the new Perth Theatre and the museum and art gallery.
“This is all part of a compelling case we are putting forward to make Perth one of Europe’s great small cities. It’s part of a wider jigsaw puzzle.
“We know, and we’re often being told, that Perth doesn’t have that special headline attraction, something that attracts more than 100,000 people to the city each year. With city hall we can get that attraction and that will be not just of benefit to Perth but the surrounding region.”
She said the new building was still scheduled to open in 2021 but that construction times had not been agreed.
Charles Kinnoull, chairman of Culture Perth and Kinross, said: “It’s extraordinary that these designers can take a blank canvas like our city hall and come up with such different, interesting visions.”
Council leader Ian Campbell confirmed the new look hall could become home to the Stone of Destiny, subject to ongoing negotiations.
He said: “At the end of the day, the decision will be made by councillors – but not councillors alone.
“We will have help from various eminent architects, town planners... who will give us good advice about what they think is both affordable, but will also give us the status of a building which is worthy for the city of Perth.”
We will have help from various eminent architects, town planners...” IAN CAMPBELL
Aset of ambitious proposals for the future of Perth City Hall have been revealed by architects from across Europe. The public will have their say and, if the past decade is any measure, there can be no doubt there will be a high level of vocal involvement from within the city and beyond.
The most popular may not prove to be the “winner” as the public engagement exercise is only to inform the final decision, not determine it.
What is undeniable is if any of the designs are eventually chosen in the form in which they currently exist, there is a vibrant future for the long-closed building.
From a flexible exhibition space with art suspended from the ceiling to, effectively, a second Perth museum, the interior of the hall will be unrecognisable. But the cityscape could also change dramatically. One vision has an exterior staircase between the back of the hall and St John’s Kirk. Another proposes moving the Mercat Cross to open up the route from St John’s Shopping Centre to the hall. It is such bold innovation which Perth desperately needs. All the proposals are transformational and make the massive undertaking – both in cost and labour – worthwhile. Perth may be about to seize a chance to create a centre worth celebrating. Let us hope it does so.
And let us also hope the public engages in the process positively and in a civic spirit.