Caird Hall is a concert

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

located in Dundee,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The site currently occupied by the building was occupied by a series of closes and tenements. The foundation stone for the building was laid by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and Queen Mary on 10 July 1914. It was designed by the town architect James Thomson, assisted by Vernon Constable, while the decorative plaster work was produced by H. H. Martyn & Company of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, holders of the Royal Warrant. The building, which was named after its benefactor, the jute baron, Sir James Caird, was officially opened by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

on 23 October 1923. The hall's pipe organ was built in 1923 by

Harrison & Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the ...

, who also completed a restoration in 1992. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Caird Hall was used as mass vaccination centre operated by NHS Tayside. It opened on 2 February 2021 and closed on 20 September 2021, completing 135,000 vaccinations.

Events

The venue has a capacity of 2,300 fully seated, but can be subdivided or converted to standing where required. The hall is used for graduation ceremonies from the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

, the

University of Abertay Dundee , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of Co ...

and Dundee and Angus College, as well as other significant university events. The

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...

opened its 2019/20 season at the Caird Hall in October 2019.

In popular culture

The exterior of Caird Hall was used as a location during the filming of the

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

scripted ''

An Englishman Abroad ''An Englishman Abroad'' is a 1983 BBC television drama film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The pr ...

'' in 1983. It was decorated with placards of communist leaders, to take the part of a theatre in Moscow.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Dundee Category A listed buildings in Dundee Listed theatres in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in 1923