Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh) was managed by Balfour Beatty. The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh is a multi-purpose event space, regularly hosting conferences, dinners, performances, exhibitions and weddings. The venue has two major event spaces, The Ballroom and the Music Hall, and another nine drawing rooms. The venue is decorated throughout with crystal chandeliers, gold leaf and gilt mirrors while also incorporating modern technology. Every year the Assembly Rooms are used as one of the venues for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Assembly Rooms were originally operated by the Assembly Festival group, who took their name from the building. Assembly grew from that base to
The Rooms skyline. The building's name, as well as its architecture, is a reference to the simple gable-roofed sheds (called "fishing rooms") that were once so common at the waterline in Newfoundland fishing villages. During the planning and construction of the building much opposition was raised by archaeologists and historians because of its location. Previously on the same strategic spot of land was located Fort Townshend, an 18th-century military fort, that was eventually buried under ground. The great star-shaped citadel, one of the largest British fortifications in North America at the time, was built to defend Britain's fishing interests. With the withdrawal