Plans unveiled for Scotland’s first fully digital museum

The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust is proposing to create the first museum in Scotland to display only digital content.

The trust has unveiled proposals for the regeneration of Leith Custom House in Edinburgh incorporating a fully digital museum that will explore the history of Leith.

Led by Richard Murphy Architects, the scheme will transform the Category A-listed Georgian building into a “fully accessible and sustainable culture and heritage destination”.

The 200-year-old building was previously used as a store for the National Museum of Scotland before gradually falling into disrepair.

Under the regeneration plans, the museum will be housed on the first floor of the building and feature eight exhibition rooms with video walls, listening booths, screens and projectors to display digital content, such as historic documents, 3D object scans, photography, oral history archives, film, animation and digital contemporary art.

These spaces will provide an opportunity for a “limitless range of exhibitions” linked to the history of Leith, which will be co-curated by community groups, guest curators, specialists and members of the public, the trust said.

The “hybrid-use” building will also house community-creative studios for artists and makers, along with commercial and retail opportunities.

“Leith Custom House has an important role to play in preserving Leith’s proud civic traditions and is the largest project ever to be undertaken by Scottish Historic Buildings Trust in our 40-year history,” said Samuel Gallacher, director of the trust.

“We have worked with the community to develop the vision for the future of the building and are delighted to share our next steps for the project publicly through a programme of events aimed at widening participation.

“The digital museum fuses the principles of a civic museum with the innovation of a contemporary digital art gallery. This concept promises a world-leading approach to providing a venue suitable for telling the stories of long ago, empowering people to tell their own stories today, as well as showcasing Leith and Scotland’s outstanding digital creative sector.”

The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust was appointed by City of Edinburgh Council in 2015 to carry out a feasibility study exploring options for creating a sustainable future for the historic building. 

Since then, the charity has been working with the community of Leith to develop a plan for its long-term future. In the meantime, the building has returned to use as a temporary creative hub for artists and artisans.  

A formal consultation exercise showed there was a demand in the community for spaces for classes, events and activities, cultural spaces, rentable work studios, and space for permanent and changing exhibitions linked to the history of Leith. 

The regeneration proposals are on display at Leith Custom House until 6 September during the Open House: Leith Custom House Festival, part of the city’s Edinburgh 900 celebrations.