EDINBURGH’S Rose Theatre, a category B-listed building on Rose Street in the New Town, will be converted into a 43-bedroom hotel with a café and bar on its rooftop after plans were approved by the council.
Plans had to be resubmitted after ANTA Design, which submitted the plans on behalf of Morningbridge Ltd, had their proposals bounced back due to the sub-division of the main sanctuary space.
These earlier proposals were deemed “cultural vandalism” by one councillor because of the subdivision and fears were expressed that the conversion would result in the loss of a cultural asset.
Crucially, the new plans scaled back the number of rooms in the hotel to allow the main sanctuary space to be retained.
Some 43 bedrooms – a reduction of four from the previous plans – will be installed in the hotel in the basement, and all floors of the hotel around the sanctuary space, which will be retained as a central communal space for the hotel, with rooms overlooking.
A stylish café/bar will be installed in the theatre’s roof area.
Many locals supported the plans, expressing excitement at bringing the neglected, “sad-looking” building back into use, while some feared that the conversion would result in some of the listed building’s historic features being removed.
During yesterday’s Development Management Sub-Committee at the council, Labour’s councillor Tim Pogson said: “I do regret that we are losing those balconies, which are fabulous and just the whole space there where we are losing a lot.
“And I regret that we can’t sustain a performance space within the city centre. I would have liked to have seen that continue, of course.
“But, having said all that and taking account of the fact that we clearly need compromise here, I do welcome all the work that’s gone into this to retain a great deal of what we saw in the spirit of that space, even if we are losing those balconies.”
The redevelopment of the space and installation of rooms looks likely to require the removal of the balconies overlooking the sanctuary.
Pogson added: “There’s been a lot of pain in this process on many sides to get to where we are today.
“But maybe it’s an example of the process actually working and has ended with something that is generally acceptable and retains that heritage.”
The SNP’s councillor Martha Mattos Coelho added: “I appreciate that it’s not easy to work on listed building, and I think the compromise that we are seeing at the moment is quite acceptable.
“I must say, I’m surprised that only four rooms were lost in this new version, which is quite a feat.
“I really like what has been done at the moment, that we are preserving the identity of what was there before, while giving it a new life and a new use.”
The building was first opened as a Baptist chapel in 1912, and, after plans to turn the venue into a “super-pub” were similarly rejected, the chapel was converted, at great expense, into an elegant theatre.
Councillor Joanna Mowat praised the new plans as a “reasonable compromise”: “What we’ve got now is a synthesis between preserving the historic features, but hopefully a sustainable use for this building.
“It is important to me that buildings have that sustainable future, rather than we sit and wait for an absolutely perfect but non sustainable future for them.”
Councillors were given the opportunity for a site visit last year.
When plans were initially resubmitted, Lachlan Stewart, director at ANTA Design, described the changes to plans as a “creative”, “constructive” solution.
The Rose Theatre was was reconstructed as a Baptist Church with seating for 1,000 people in 2012.
The building, which was listed in 1996, was put up for sale when the congregation moved to Shandwick Place.
It was eventually sold to Danish dance impresario Peter Schaufuss in 2016 after plans for a “super-pub” conversion, who spent more than £1m on converting the church into a theatre and events venue.
He struggled to run the venue alongside the old St Stephen’s Church (now the Saint Stephen’s Theatre) at the corner of St Stephen Street and St Vincent Street as events venues, however, and eventually sold The Rose Theatre.
Planners estimate that the hotel, if installed, could bring in up to £800,000 in revenue annually for the city of Edinburgh.
Ross Chalmers is a journalist focusing on local Edinburgh news, transport, the environment, the arts, and housing.
He graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in journalism in Summer 2025 and began working at Deadline News as a reporter in August.
