What is Scotland’s Heritage Hub?

The Society aspires to acquire and redevelop a B-listed building in central Edinburgh to co-create Scotland’s most inclusive, low-carbon and heritage-rich space in which to work, visit and participate.  

This would be a new public-facing home for the Society with meeting rooms, a Fellows-only space and a flexible exhibition, event and reception area with the highest-quality audio-visual equipment maximised for high-quality hybrid engagement 

Scotland’s Heritage Hub would also rent out offices to other organisations who share our values and goals, which would help forge a collaborative ethos, enable connections and allow the sector to share resources and knowledge as we work together to empower the public to better explore and understand all aspects of Scotland’s past. 

The public would have a welcoming accessible space – “an open door” – in which to engage with high-quality information on Scotland’s past and meet with experts in the heritage sector. The hub would foster the development of a deeper understanding of and access to Scotland’s past and the resources they can use to undertake their own research. It would signpost to other locations in Scotland that can help answer questions, or simply showcase the best Scotland’s heritage has to offer. 

But what that looks like is up to you.  

The fundamental framework of the building is malleable and in order for everyone to have the opportunity to visit the hub in the future – in person or online – we need to design it correctly from the beginning. You’re invited to be part of the design team to ensure we get it right. 

Our community engagement experts at the Horizons Research consultancy have already collected input from over 200 people from a wide range of organisations in the heritage and other sectors in 2024. Ideas they have gathered include co-working spaces, a cutting-edge digital education and research laboratory, a recording studio, bookshop, café and a virtual reality room. 

Image Credit: Benjamin Tindall Architects

Radar in Scotland book available from the Society online shop

A focal point that enables people to better engage with Scotland’s past

We are continuing to welcome everyone’s views and ideas. If you would like to contribute, please contact heritagehub@socantscot.org. Your feedback will help us create a heritage hub for Scotland’s past to bring heritage alive for a wide range of public audiences.