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This project successfully funded on 28th January 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Pianodrome Bruntsfield Community Hub
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Aim
We are raising funds to create a warm, beautiful community hub in the centre of Edinburgh with our Pianodrome at its heart.
Who are we?
The Pianodrome is the world's first 100-seater amphitheatre made entirely from disused pianos. Since our first Pianodrome amphitheatre was built in 2018 we have continued to create unique playable, community-centred sculptures, activating them with hundreds of events and saving over 670 pianos from going to landfill.
Our new home
Pianodrome now hosts two locations in Edinburgh. The first, a warehouse in Granton, houses our workshop and is the base of operations for our Adopt a Piano program. And now, with great excitement, we have moved our original Grand Pianodrome into the glorious St. Oswald's Community Centre, a Victorian church in the heart of Bruntsfield.
With the building under community ownership, the St Oswald's team has welcomed and supported us in realising our dream - we are so thrilled about our shared long term vision for the space as a hub for creative community. The opportunity to create a thriving jewel of connection and creativity in a central, accessible location is astounding and we are all in!
Our background
We create unique, interactive sculptures and performance venues entirely from up-cycled pianos and then activate the spaces through local, community-focused events and festivals.
The Pianodrome is the world's first amphitheatre made entirely from up-cycled pianos. Through our sculpture workshop and 'Adopt a Piano' scheme we divert tons of use-able material from landfill every year, challenging people to re-think what is deemed as waste, and creating the conditions for resilient community-centred activity.
Our work is a direct response to our throw-away culture, and is a positive community-centred approach to the climate crisis.
The Pianodrome has inhabited and invigorated temporary spaces such as derelict theatres, museums, warehouses and botanical gardens on a short term basis: now we have finally found a location where we can set up permanently.
At Pianodrome Bruntsfield we will develop a hub where music, dance, theatre, science and more can be brought to the heart of the community.
We need your help!
A project of this scale needs a huge amount of energy, time and money.
So far, our team has made amazing progress bringing life into the building. With the help of over 600 volunteer hours and a dedicated team of workers we have uncovered, scraped, sanded and varnished a beautiful wooden floor, repainted the doors and walls, cleaned and tidied and installed our Grand Pianodrome in the space with beautiful lighting to boot. To go further, we are raising funds to help cover the costs of setting up our permanent community hub in this beautiful building.
What do we need the funds for?
We need a building warrant! Having the correct licenses will allow us to operate full time. This involves hiring architects, structural engineers, electricians and plumbers and coordinating all these different elements.
We need heating! An old church building in Scotland isn't the most amenable place for a lot of the year: we want to install efficient, environmentally friendly ways to heat the space and make things cosy.
We need light! The existing lighting system from the '80s is on the blink and needs updating. We would like to build a bespoke, low-energy lighting rig to illuminate this beautiful building and the Pianodrome within.
We want to work in collaboration with artists to create fittings and infrastructure in keeping with our ethos, for example railings allowing safe access to balcony and stage spaces built entirely from piano parts. Any additional funds will be used to make improvements such as installing additional toilets, fitting out a warm cafe space and creating additional break-out spaces.
Please consider donating generously to help us make this a vibrant, warm, creative hub for all those who encounter it.
A bit more about Pianodrome CIC
Our work demonstrates how local and free materials, which would otherwise be seen as waste, can be transformed into valuable community-centred works of art. Each year we divert over 100 pianos from landfill. Those in good condition are cleaned, repaired and tuned as part of our ‘Adopt a Piano’ project - a rescue home for old pianos. Those beyond repair are carefully dismantled in our ‘nose-to-tail’ upcycling method, then turned into unique furniture and sculptures.
Our new home is a major step towards a carbon free model of music played on acoustic instruments and in natural light. We aim to create a resilient community hub which inspires and comforts the people who use it, operating at low cost financially and environmentally. By generating the conditions for creative community through practical action we can find positive approaches to mitigating against the impacts of climate change.
Become a Pianodrome supporter!
You can donate any amount of your choosing; every pound is appreciated and everyone who contributes will receive a special thank you on our website (please tick the anonymous box to opt out).
We also offer some great rewards from key rings to piano sculptures and the opportunity to be part of our legacy with the return of our key to success campaign.
Please check out our video, stay in touch with our campaign by signing up to our mailer and spread the word. We'll be adding more exciting details and surprises for you as this crowd funder progresses!
What we plan to do with the funds
We will install a bespoke low-energy (LED) lighting system to replace the existing fluorescent lighting. £15,000
Design and install an infrared (IR) heating panel system. Instead of heating the air in the vast space, IR heating will simply heat our audiences and performers directly, massively reducing the energy required for heating systems whilst allowing the space to be used. £25,000
Building warrant - to make sure these and other changes are licensable we must apply for a Building Warrant. £10,000
What we'll do with any additional money we raise
We will use any additional funds to make further improvements to the building, including fitting out one area of our church with a community cafe, and building internal walls in the space to create smaller warm areas which can be insulated sufficiently and heated appropriately. Fitting out our community cafe will cost around £20,000 - £25,000. Further funds will allow us to add additional toilets which will increase the capacity of our space.
The outcomes of the project.
This funding will allow us to create a comfortable and vibrant community hub in the centre of Edinburgh year round. This is a dream we have had since we first built the Pianodrome in 2018, and one we know is now closer than ever to being realised. Having a permanent home will allow us to build on what is already a hugely successful environmental and community project.
After the first 1-2 years of operation in the new space we expect to be able to host over 50,000 people per year in our Pianodrome amphitheatre. In collaboration with local charities, music organisations and artists, we're excited to reach out further to new communities across the city.
Over the years we have found that our approach can be life-changing to our regular users. The space provides a creative refuge for people from all sorts of backgrounds, a place where young and old alike are able to enjoy live music, theatre, dance and upcycling activities together in the warm embrace of our piano amphitheatre.
The project will also provide hundreds of paid performance opportunities for artists and performers of all stripes, from musicians to theatre makers, dance practitioners and visual artists. This space will buck the trend of venue across the UK closing down by presenting a fresh approach which acknowledges the power of DIY culture and community ownership.
By demonstrating that alternatives to our throw-away society can be achieved by rethinking our use of materials, we know that our project both inspires and emboldens people from all backgrounds to take constructive action towards a better future.
Photo credits: Chris Scott, Julien Pearly, Lewis Macdonald
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made