Masterplan design for Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS)

Challenge

The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was 225 years old in 2009 and established a permanent exhibition venue and headquarters at Ingliston, Edinburgh over 50 years ago. To continue this history of success and national presence, SLR was brought on board to lead the design of an overarching masterplan and manage a team of consultants to work with RHASS on establishing a vision for the next 20-years.

The aim for RHASS is to become the UK’s leading indoor and outdoor exhibition venue, with world class facilities capable of accommodating two million people on an annual basis. The plans focus around the creation of a high quality multi-purpose site which secures RHASS’s future and makes Ingliston the natural gateway to Scotland.

Solution

The 133ha site offers an opportunity to take a meaningful, design led approach to planning new development and rationalising existing operations, especially for such a key site adjacent to an international airport and on the urban fringe of Scotland’s capital city. The main design aim is to create a strong and identifiable event landscape, which creates a distinctive place. The proposals include over 50,000sqm of new exhibition facilities as well as office accommodation aimed at the renewable energy sector, hotels, and a Food Centre of Excellence.

Impact

SLR's Place team led the planning permission application process and secured a consent for a total of 100,000sqm of development, including diversified land uses. On behalf of RHASS, SLR were subsequently retained to evaluate developer partner proposals for mixed uses on new development plots and provide masterplan guidance through the early implementation phases.

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