The property company that plans to redevelop the Summerhall site in Edinburgh has confirmed it wants to “retain the site’s cultural role” while “bringing new activity and investment to the wider complex”. It also hopes that Summerhall Arts will continue to be involved in running the cultural side.

Those commitments were made by AMA Homes, which agreed to acquire the site in 2024, as it revealed details about its plans for redeveloping the complex, which will include the demolition of some of its buildings.

That plan also includes adding a hotel, apartments, student housing, and retail and hospitality spaces alongside a cultural hub. There will now be a public consultation on what AMA is proposing, which Summerhall Arts is urging audiences to follow.

Commenting on the plans, AMA Managing Director Ali Afshar says, “Summerhall is an important part of Edinburgh’s cultural life” and “we know how much it means to the people who work here, visit and live nearby”.

However, he adds, “we also know that significant investment is needed to address the challenges facing its buildings and secure its future”. Hence the need for redevelopment, but, he insists, “our vision for an arts quarter builds on what makes Summerhall special – art and culture will remain at its heart”.

Formerly Edinburgh University‘s Royal (Dick) School Of Veterinary Studies, and before that a brewery, Summerhall became a hub for arts and culture in 2012, and quickly became a key venue within the Edinburgh Fringe each August. But in recent years there have been lots of concerns about the venue’s future.

Sam Gough, CEO of Summerhall Arts, the charity that currently runs the building and its Edinburgh Fringe programme, has urged everyone who has “enjoyed Summerhall” to take part in the public consultation.

He tells The Scotsman, “I am looking forward to seeing what these plans are, but for me, the priority is that there is arts provision retained at the site and that Summerhall Arts are there to provide this. Also that whatever arts provision is left in this building is run in an affordable way that allows us to stay in this location”.

He adds that the Summerhall charity will not “sit back” and just “accept what happens”, concluding “we are going to make sure our voices are heard for the future of the arts and year round provision in Edinburgh”.