Perth Concert Hall opened its doors in September 2005 with a weekend of signature events giving a flavour of what was to come. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra represented the classical strand. Legendary percussionist Trilok Gurtu with an ensemble of Perthshire musicians heralded our Home+Away strand of world-traditional combos and Belle & Sebastian flew the flag for top of the range contemporary music. Before work began on the new Concert Hall, an archaeological dig was carried out. The dig uncovered evidence of a medieval castle, first documented in the 12th century but destroyed by flood in 1209. Other finds included an arched stone bridge, metal objects, leather, wood, pottery, stone and bones, clay-lined tanning pits and stone-lined wells. A series of burials identified a chapel dedicated to St Laurence. This was first mentioned in 1328, and was given to the Dominican friars in 1405. Until the dig, no archaeological evidence of the castle or chapel had existed. The neighbourhood down the centuries 12th century Castle 13th century Dominican friary 14th century Industrial suburb 17th century Horse market 18th century Tanning activity 19th–20th century Pullars dye works
Architecture
The contract was the result of the Perth 2000 international architectural competition, the jury of which was chaired by Eva Jiricna, and won by BDP Glasgow in 1998. The project started on site in 2003 and completed in Summer 2005 at a construction cost of £12.5m.
Auditorium
At the heart of the Perth Concert Hall building BDP has designed a fully flexible 1,200 seat concert hall, the Gannochy Auditorium, which features uniquely configured floor lifts and movable seating wagons to provide both raked seating and a large-scale flat floor. The flexible format of the concert hall can also accommodate events such as conference, sports, fashion shows, dinner dances and even a motor show. BDP Acoustics modeled the main auditorium's natural acoustic for orchestral music, with flexibility for a range of acoustic environments provided by retractable acoustic banners and powerful electro-acoustic systems. Commissioning reports confirm that the auditorium is an excellent venue for music events or speech. It won the Scottish Design Awards for Best Building for Public Use 2007.
Performance spaces and facilities
The Main Auditorium is a truly flexible facility - offering a wide range of layouts for conferences and events as its unique design means that part of the seating can disappear to create a flat floor ideal for cabaret style conferences, banquets, exhibitions and dinner dances. Standard performances can seat 1200 and standing performances up to 1600. Other spaces in the hall include the Norie-Miller Suite which can accommodate 120 people, or be split into two rooms at 50 and 60. There are also a number of meeting rooms and break-out spaces.
Notable events
A primary feature of its yearly program includes the 'Perth Concert Series of Scottish Orchestras'. As well as classical music, the hall plays host to opera and ballet, musical theatre, talks, rock and pop, folk, world and country, swing and comedy. It is also the main venue for the Southern Fried Festival. It has held numerous political party conferences, including the Scottish National Party, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour
