The philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York has made a $1 million (c. £750,000) grant towards the “design and programming of the Dunard Centre Concert Hall”, which is set to be built on the recently cleared site behind the historic RBS branch building on St Andrew Square, in the heart of Edinburgh.

The venue will provide a permanent home for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a new venue for the Edinburgh International Festival. It will also be the first UK venue designed by Nagata Acoustics, the world’s foremost acoustic experts, and the first concert hall anywhere in the world from the globally renowned David Chipperfield Architects.

The Carnegie foundation is led by Dame Louise Richardson, former vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and former principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews. The organisation was established by the Scottish industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to manage the bulk of his philanthropic giving. Between 2023 and 2024, it awarded grants totalling $174m and is backed by an endowment valued at around $4.5 billion (c. £3.3bn).

The funding boost comes as the Dunard Centre reveals the findings of new economic and social impact assessments. The Centre’s operations are projected to generate £169.4 million in gross value added (GVA) over its first 20 years, supporting nearly 300 jobs in the process. Based on an estimated 200,000 visitors annually, the hall is projected to increase tourism spending in Edinburgh and the surrounding region by £8.6m a year.

The Centre’s social engagement plan sets out an ambition to become a UK cultural sector leader in increasing access to the arts and engaging with underserved groups. Some 17,000 people are expected to benefit from a wide-ranging community engagement programme each year, with new opportunities created for skills development leading to improved workplace pathways.

The Dunard Centre has leveraged £25m in public investment, through Edinburgh’s City Region Deal, to attract more than £80m in private donations, including £35m from philanthropist Carol Colburn Grigor’s Dunard Fund. This is a record, in capital funding terms, for a cultural project in Scotland.

Jo Buckley, chief executive of the Dunard Centre, said: “We are hugely grateful for this grant, which recognises both the global significance of the Dunard Centre and the role it will play in enriching the lives of local people, by giving them greater access to the arts.

“The money will help us develop and advance our engagement strategy, which is a vital element of our mission to create a ‘Hall for All’ here in Edinburgh.

“With a focus on supporting civic participation and socioeconomic mobility, we intend to build trusted relationships, design thoughtful creative engagement programmes, and establish the team that will bring this work to life when we open our doors in 2029.

“We look forward to the opportunity of exploring and sharing the parallels between the transformational philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie – and the mark this left upon the world –and the various ways civic society benefits from the provision of outstanding performance and lifelong engagement with music.”