Following a £9m transformation, Aberdeen’s Music Hall has been named outright winner in the annual Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards Scotland in the Community Benefit category. The Scottish National awards recognise Scotland’s best projects and extraordinary talent, vision and skills of the teams behind them.
The Music Hall Transformation won the Community Benefit Award, in the face of stiff competition with 6 national projects in the running, in recognition of ‘excellent achievement in providing a facility which directly benefits the local community and can illustrate its success through local community feedback.’ Judges highly commended the Music Hall Stepping Out programme during closure, which included projects like the Music Hall Babies, Young Ambassadors, Music Hall community choir and the community Stepping In celebrations which on December, 8 attended by more than 9000.
The Music Hall was also shortlisted in the Building Conservation category, one of only a few projects to be shortlisted in two categories. The Building Conservation category honours excellent work in renovation and conservation to a new or original use.
The Awards shortlist was announced in February, and the RICS Award panel visited the Music Hall in March as part of the judging process. The Music Hall Transformation will go on to compete against other regional winners at the national RICS Awards Grand Final in October 2019 in London, for the chance to be crowned the overall UK winner in their respective category.
Aberdeen Performing Arts, chief executive, Jane Spiers, said: “The Music Hall has been at the heart of cultural and community life for nearly 200 years and means so much to so many people. It’s been such a privilege for Aberdeen Performing Arts to deliver this project for the city. Winning this national award is a fantastic way to say thank you to everyone involved and recognises all the amazing talent and creativity in our communities in the North-east.”
Since re-opening, 160,000 people have come through the doors of the Music Hall, with more than 66,000 tickets sold within the first four months opening.
The opening season continues to attract big names and audiences, with KD Lang, Beverley Knight, Frank Skinner and the RSNO among the acts that fans can look forward to over the coming months.