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The Assembly Hall
The elegant assembly Hall is an architectural feature of The Academy. Built to an oval design in the classic revival style which characterises most of the New Town, it can accommodate up to 600 people and is used for a wide range of functions as well as for the morning assembly. Editions of the BBC's Question Time and Mastermind programmes were broadcast from here.
Festival Venue
In August each year the Hall is used by outside artists as a venue for performances during the Edinburgh International Festival. It is used from time to time for music, larger meetings of various kinds, concerts and some plays. It is also used for receptions, and is the gathering point for visitors to the school during the annual Open Day in October.
It is central to Academicals' memories of the School as the one place where everyone comes together, and some even like to hire it to house their wedding receptions or other functions in later life, sometimes long after they have left the school. One of the biggest difficulties used to be that the Upper Gallery, which had only one staircase leading to it, had to be used under very stringent conditions. However during the refurbishment of 1999, a second staircase was added on the opposite side to the original, along with other facilities. Those who are familiar with the building will notice that this staircase is not the only improvement. The old wooden chairs have been replaced by comfortable upholstered seats which are also easier to stack when the hall is cleared for receptions.
The Main Building
Central Block
The ephors (who are the Academy equivalent of prefects) have a room of their own immediately to the left of the entrance to the assembly hall. Between the main building and the entrance in Henderson Row is an extensive yard, home every break to an impossibly large number of ball games. There are further yards between the west wing and the dining hall, and between the east wing and the gymnasium. |
West Wing
Although the facade of the listed building remains unaltered, the classrooms inside are modernised and equipped with computers, videos, electronic whiteboards and other facilities, as well as providing office space for staff. Mezzanine floors provide extra accommodation. |
East Wing
This has much improved the functionality of the venue for dinners, dances and other functions. During The Festival The main history teaching room can become a cafe serving refreshments to the audience. |
North WingThe North Wing of the original William Burn 1824 building is due for another transformation in 2008. Originally the wing was built as two small classrooms together with one huge room which served as the classroom for the Rector’s class. This was later sub-divided and during the 1950s and 1960s gradually taken over by science. It became unoccupied when all three science departments moved into the new Science Centre. In this latest lease of life for the North Wing we plan to create a Physical Education and Performing Arts space by removing all of the 1890 partitions and opening up the building to its original proportions. Together with changing rooms and toilet facilities which befit the school’s new co-educational status, this development should be ready by late 2008. |
Royal visits |
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The main building dates from 1824 and is the central focus of the school. It consists of the assembly hall and three wings of classrooms, including Computing and Business Subjects to the west, and History and Design Technology to the east. 
Behind the classical exterior of the west wing is the central hub of the school's computer network and the office of the network manager, perhaps not quite how even relatively recent students remember the building!
To the east the internal arrangements are even more recently modified, with the addition of a modern kitchen and toilets leading off from the hall. 
On each side of the hall door are plaques commemorating the visits to The Academy of Her Majesty the Queen (1974) and HRH The Princess Royal (1999), to mark respectively the 150th and 175th anniversaries of The Academy's foundation. This page is: Edinburgh Academy /information / campus / assembly.htm
