Julia Rausing Trust funding for East gardens

The Royal High School Preservation Trust is continuing its fundraising efforts with a £2.85m award from the Julia Rausing Trust towards the East Gardens, designed by world renowned garden designer, Tom Stuart Smith.

The former Royal High School building on Calton Hill in Edinburgh is being transformed into the National Centre for Music, an energising force in Scotland’s music sector. Surrounded by two acres of beautiful landscape, the gardens will be a key focal point of the new development.. 

Designed to complement the grandeur of Thomas Hamilton’s masterpiece and blend seamlessly into the geological drama of Calton Hill, the gardens create a new public space, in an urban location where no garden existed before, overlooking the city skyline and the epic vista of Salisbury Crags beyond.  They become the first public gardens in the capital since the creation of Princes Street Gardens in the 19th century.

The £2.85m grant from the Julia Rausing Trust will create the East Garden. With more than 200 varieties of flowering  trees, flowers and grasses,  the look of the gardens will change with the seasons creating outstanding views all year round and it contrasts with the west garden at the other end of the building which is composed entirely of Scottish native plants. 

A long wisteria clad pergola along the garden’s North wall creates a ‘philosophers walk’ as a contemplative, thoughtful space which overlooks the flower garden.  The East Pavilion within the East gardens will become a learning studio, showcasing the story of Scotland’s rich and diverse flora. The space will also serve as a venue for horticultural and environmental talks. 

The Julia Rausing Trust is an independent grant making charity, honouring the memory of British philanthropist, Julia Rausing and committed to donating up to £100m in grants to charities and organisations across the UK. 

Simon Fourmy, Director of the Julia Rausing Trust, said: “The transformation of the former Royal High School in Edinburgh into a new National Centre for Music is a remarkable project and one we were eager to support. Supporting heritage for the benefit of all was an important part of Julia Rausing’s giving and so it is fitting to continue her legacy through these new heritage themed grants. We’re delighted to make this donation to the development of the East Gardens and look forward to seeing the completed project.”

The £2.85m donation to the Royal High School Preservation Trust takes the charity another step closer to its fundraising targets, putting it well on track to deliver the project for a summer 2027 opening. 

Kate Smith, Development Director for the Royal High School Preservation Trust, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Julia Rausing Trust for their incredibly generous award. The gardens will be an extremely important feature of the new National Centre for Music. They will have health and wellbeing at their heart and create an urban oasis for the whole community to enjoy.  The old Royal High School building is one of the most important neoclassical buildings in Scotland and the gardens will form the perfect frame for the exciting new musical hub planned for the building.”

Designed through a collaboration between award-winning landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith OBE, and Edinburgh based landscape architects, OPEN (part of SLR), the area will provide the first major new city centre public garden since Princes Street Gardens opened more than 200 years ago in 1820. 

Tom Stuart Smith said: “The overall design of these gardens aims to highlight the extraordinary architectural setting of not only the building but also Edinburgh, creating a tranquil retreat accessible for everyone and recognised as an outstanding destination in the city centre.”

Work on the garden spaces will begin later this year.