Usher Hall
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The Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Three-storey Beaux Arts concert hall on wedge-shaped site, with polygonal entrance front and horseshoe-plan auditorium
The 3,000 seat auditorium is a curved horseshoe form, made possible by the use of the period's most advanced concrete construction methods. Its three main entrances are marked by large doorways, above which and set back from the face, is the wall of the auditorium. The whole being crowned by a saucer dome made of steel frame construction and clad in copper.
The external detailing includes statues by the leading sculptors of the period. Internally the public areas are again richly detailed and the horseshoe corridor contains plaster medallions illustrating key figures from Scotland and from the world of music.
The ceiling of the hall was flat and treated with broad deep ribs to enhance acoustic performance. In the large central panel is the dome with clerestory windows which provides abundant daylighting.
Data
- Begun: Jul 1911
- Completed: Jul 1911
- Floor area: 700m2
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £100,000
- Funding: Donation from Andrew Usher
- Address: 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9BT, United Kingdom
Materials 
Professional Team
- Architect: Stockdale Harrison and Sons
- Client: City of Edinburgh
- Project architect: Howard H. Thomson
- Main contractor: Neil McLeod and Sons
