Leith to house Scotland’s first digital museum


Scottish Historic Buildings Trust unveils plans to use the Leith Custom House, which is owned by the local authority in Edinburgh, to house a facility designed to be entirely digital

The 200-year-old Leith Custom House in Edinburgh will be home to Scotland’s first fully digital museum.

Last week, the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) shared plans for the Georgian-era site to become “a town square of the 21st century”. Under the proposals, the museum will be located across eight exhibition rooms, each equipped with video walls, listening booths, screens and projectors to display the digital content.

It is understood the exhibitions will include historical documents and oral history archives, as well as object scans and digital contemporary art.  


Related content


The plans, free for the public to view this week, are the largest project the SHBT has undertaken since launching 40 years ago, its director Dr Samuel Gallacher said.

“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,” he added.

Located near the shore and built in 1812, the house was initially used for shipbuilding. However, in 1980 it was closed to the public and bought by the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland – now part of the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) – which used it for storage.

In 2015, after the NMS revealed it was going to sell the building, City of Edinburgh Council stepped in to buy it, later appointing SHBT to complete a feasibility study to ensure a sustainable future for the house.

Following community consultation, the newly released plans build on the preferred option from the study.

The scheme, designed by Richard Murphy Architects, will also include artists’  studios, along with other retail, and leisure facilities based on the ground floor.

This story originally appeared on PublicTechnology sister publication Holyrood

Sofia Villegas

Learn More →

8 thoughts on “Leith to house Scotland’s first digital museum

  1. Hair Cuts November 28, 2024 at 3:03 am

    Thank you for being of assistance to me. I really loved this article.

  2. Hair Type November 28, 2024 at 7:49 am

    Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed reading it, especially because it addressed my problem. It helped me a lot and I hope it will help others too.

  3. Fitness December 2, 2024 at 11:26 am

    I’m not sure why but this website is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

  4. Beauty Fashion December 3, 2024 at 7:30 am

    Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thank you However I am experiencing issue with ur rss . Don抰 know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting equivalent rss problem? Anybody who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx

  5. Hairstyles December 3, 2024 at 11:32 pm

    Thanks for expressing your ideas. I would also like to express that video games have been actually evolving. Today’s technology and innovative developments have assisted create sensible and enjoyable games. All these entertainment video games were not as sensible when the real concept was first of all being tried. Just like other designs of technological know-how, video games as well have had to develop by many ages. This itself is testimony to the fast progression of video games.

  6. Hairstyles Color December 7, 2024 at 4:30 pm

    Wow! This can be one particular of the most useful blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Fantastic. I’m also a specialist in this topic therefore I can understand your effort.

  7. Hairstyles December 19, 2024 at 12:45 am

    I do trust all of the ideas you have presented for your post. They are really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for starters. May just you please lengthen them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.

  8. Beauty Fashion January 1, 2025 at 1:59 am

    Things i have generally told people today is that when you are evaluating a good online electronics store, there are a few factors that you have to consider. First and foremost, you would like to make sure to find a reputable as well as reliable shop that has picked up great evaluations and ratings from other customers and industry advisors. This will make sure that you are dealing with a well-known store to provide good assistance and assistance to their patrons. Thanks for sharing your notions on this website.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *