Edinburgh's Ross Bandstand: Architects shortlisted

The seven architects shortlisted to design the replacement of Edinburgh's Ross Bandstand have been named.

They will compete to design the £25m project in Princes Street Gardens with the winner due to be announced in August this year.

Firms from the UK, Europe, the USA and Japan will produce their final designs, which go on display this summer.

The 140-year-old Ross Fountain will be refurbished and visitor facilities added to the gardens.

The finalists are: Adjaye Associates (UK), BIG Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark), Flanagan Lawrence (UK), Page\Park Architects (UK), Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter (Norway), wHY (USA), William Matthews Associates (UK) and Sou Fujimoto Architects (Japan).

City hotelier Norman Springford revealed last year he was willing to pay for the redevelopment of the 80-year-old venue in West Princes Street Gardens.

The benefactor teamed up with City of Edinburgh Council to form a steering group to develop the plans.

The Ross Bandstand was developed as a venue in 1935 and has a capacity of 2,400.

The original facility dates back to 1877 and was gifted to Edinburgh by William Henry Ross, chairman of the Distillers Company Ltd.

Richard Lewis, City of Edinburgh Council's culture convener and festivals champion, said: "The response to the competition's first stage affirms the worldwide interest in Edinburgh and its association with the arts.

"Scotland's capital is renowned as the world's festival city and the home of culture - and designers clearly want to be part of its future.

"The brief at stage two asks for a serious piece of architecture but one that's also celebratory - it will be fascinating to see what concepts the teams produce."

Norman Springford, the chairman of the Ross Development Trust and Competition, said: "We were absolutely delighted by the response of designers from around the world to the competition's first stage.

"The quality of the 125 teams on the long list sent a strong signal that the international design community regards this as an inspirational project for Edinburgh that has huge potential to reinvigorate this prestigious site.

"Selecting the shortlist with our partners from City of Edinburgh Council was an intense and demanding process.

"We're thrilled that our final shortlist achieved a balance of both international and UK talent, emerging and established studios.

"Now the teams will have 11 weeks to do their concept designs - and we're looking forward to seeing these and sharing them with the public."