Scotland’s first fully digital museum will be created in Leith by Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT). And plans are on view in the building until 6 September for the public to see.
Richard Murphy Architects have suggested making “a town square for the twenty-first century” in the Grade A listed Georgian building. This will make the building a fully accessible and sustainable culture and heritage destination in Leith.
The ground floor will be rented out to artists and makers with conference space also for hire.
There will be retail and commercial opportunities which will ensure the future of Custom House. Custom Lane will become a new place to eat and drink linking Dock Place to Victoria Quay.
The digital museum will be housed upstairs in eight rooms using video walls and listening booths to show content digitally.
This will include historic documents and photographs along with film and animation.
The plans are now on display at Custom House until 6 September during the Open House: Leith Custom House Festival as part of the city’s Edinburgh 900 celebrations.
Director of Scottish Historic Buildings Trust Dr Samuel Gallacher said: “Leith Custom House has an important role to play in preserving Leith’s proud civic traditions and is the largest project ever to be undertaken by Scottish Historic Buildings Trust in our forty-year history. We have worked with the community to develop the vision for the future of the building and are delighted to share our next steps for the project publicly through a programme of events aimed at widening participation.
“The digital museum fuses the principles of a civic museum with the innovation of a contemporary digital art gallery. This concept promises a world-leading approach to providing a venue suitable for telling the stories of long ago, empowering people to tell their own stories today, as well as showcasing Leith and Scotland’s outstanding digital creative sector.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
