From 1829-31, St Giles underwent restoration works led by architect William Burn, and the General Assembly had to relocate.

Initially, there were plans to restore the remains of Holyrood Abbey to designs by architects James Gillespie Graham and the renowned gothic revivalist Augustus Pugin to provide a new Assembly Hall, but this did not come to fruition.

It was built between 1839 and 1844 to a design by Graham and Pugin, and a foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria on 3 September 1842 during her first visit to Edinburgh.

The building was then virtually unused until 1999 when it was redeveloped to create offices and a performance space for the Edinburgh International Festival and renamed "The Hub".

The building is situated on a corner site, at the junction of Castlehill, Johnston Terrace and the Lawnmarket, at the top of the Royal Mile.

[10] The interior of the main hall is decked with an ornate, rib-vaulted ceiling and is lined with carved wood panelling, including a decorated wooden screen, by Pugin and Gillespie Graham.

At the east end is an ornate pulpit, topped with a wooden pinnacle, which incorporates elements of the chair of the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, designed by Pugin.