The Dunard Centre (supported by the Royal Bank of Scotland) will be Edinburgh's first new, purpose-built concert hall in 100 years and is located in the city centre of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

The venue is David Chipperfield Architects' first concert hall and will be the UK's first Nagata Acoustics hall, comprising a 1000-seat auditorium as well as bars, a cafe, meeting rooms and public spaces. Delivered by the International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust (IMPACT) Scotland, public plans for the venue include hosting a variety of musical events including classical, choral, jazz, pop, rock, folk and electronic, as well as comedy, talks, dance and other event types, alongside education and community engagement programmes. The venue will be the home of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and serve as a principal venue for the Edinburgh International Festival.

In December 2016, an international design competition was announced by the international music and performing arts charitable trust (IMPACT) Scotland to be located to the rear of Dundas House, a Royal Bank of Scotland building, at 36 St Andrew Square. The area is within the New Town UNESCO world heritage site, which has seen considerable development in recent years, with new developments at 3–8, 35 and 42 St Andrews Square, as well the recent Multrees Walk and ongoing St James Centre redevelopment. Many Scottish architects, as well as much of the Scottish press and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), expressed dismay at IMPACT's decision to run the competition from London, which was seen as sidelining Scottish practices.

A shortlist of six architects was released in late January 2017, consisting of Adjaye Associates (with Sandy Brown, Buro Happold and DHA Designs); Allies & Morrison (with Charcoalblue, Speirs & Major, Harrison Stevens and Buro Happold); Barozzi Veiga (with Alan Baxter, Max Fordham, Kahle Acoustics, 3DReid and Ian White Associates); David Chipperfield (with Arup, Whitby Wood, GROSS MAX and Theatre Projects); KPMB (with Simpson & Brown Architects, David Narro Associates, Arup, Sound Space Vision, rankinfraser landscape architecture and Transsolar Energietechnik); Richard Murphy (with Arup, Graven Images, GROSS MAX and Montagu Evans). In April of that year, David Chipperfield Architects were announced as the competition's winners, along with Edinburgh firm Reiach and Hall, with a public consultation running until the 30th.

On 23 August 2018, the developers lodged their planning application with the City of Edinburgh Council. This design differed slightly from earlier renders, with the lower floors being pared back and simplified. On 24 April 2019, the Development was approved by six votes to four votes by the Development Management Sub Committee of the City of Edinburgh Council after five hours of debate.

The Dunard Centre has been attracted the attention of residents and heritage groups due to its design and location within the Old and New Town of Edinburgh, a UNESCO world heritage site:

Fergus Linehan, the head of the Edinburgh International Festival, said that "artistically and socially, it's a truly transformational project for the Festival." He went on to say the hall would provide a space or acts that would not be suitable for the city's existing concert hall, the Usher Hall, saying "If you're talking about new composers, and digital or electronic work, they don't really fit into that". The Festival hope the hall will become "an exciting place to be", which they say will make it "easier for [them] to attract new and younger audiences".

The Scottish Cultural Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, said "The economic and cultural benefits will be felt throughout Scotland."