Perfect Event Space in Edinburgh
5
5
Date of visit: August 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, powerchair
Overall Rating
Excellent
I have attended a few events at The Edinburgh Futures Institute, mostly for Edinburgh International Book Festival. Even though I have only really seen the venue during festival times, I do feel the venue has good wheelchair accessibility.
Disabled Access In and Around
Excellent
There are various entrances into this venue, but every time I have visited, I have entered through the entrance on Porters Walk. This entrance is level access and it is automatic doors that you go through, so you don’t have to manually open a door. Throughout the venue though most doors aren’t automatic so you have to manually open them, I can’t do this myself so I can only guess that they are heavy because they look heavy. There are lots of lifts around the venue to access all levels in the venue, they are spacious enough to fit 2 wheelchair users in and I’d say maybe two abled people too. It is the main event space near the Porters Walk entrance that I have mainly visited and this event space is massive. I’d say it would hold over 100 people capacity. We visited what was a Book Nook during the book festival, I think it’s usually a study area normally, but these areas are quite spacious too and chairs are able to be moved around to accommodate multiple wheelchair users at one time. We also visited the café during book festival and I’m not sure if it’s used as a café all year around, but it’s spacious enough for multiple wheelchair users to visit at a time and the tables are also at a good height for wheelchair users too.
Accessible facilities: Lift to all areas, Step-free entrance
Parking & Transport
Good
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
There is no dedicated car park for The Edinburgh Futures Institute, but there is a Q-Park car park across the road. Although The Edinburgh Futures Institute is located in the city centre of Edinburgh. I’m not local to Edinburgh so I don’t know what buses you can get, but I have seen a bus stop a few minutes from the venue. Also Waverly Train Station is a 15-minute walk away.
Accessible Toilets
Good
During the book festival there is a portable Changing Places toilet, but it’s not there all year around. Although the closest Changing Places toilet that is open all year round is at Middle Meadow Walkway which is open 10am till 8pm. In The Edinburgh Futures Institute there are plenty of standard accessible toilets. These toilets are all a bit different though in terms of space and what side you are able to transfer on to the toilet. I’ve included pictures of a couple of the accessible toilets available in The Edinburgh Futures Institute so you can see the space, but they are dotted all over the venue so you should always be able to find one. A really great feature that Edinburgh International Book Festival did, that I hope The Edinburgh Futures Institute carries on, is putting an LH or RH sticker on the front of the accessible toilet door to let people know if the toilet position allows you to transfer from the left or right side.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Excellent
Whenever I have attended an event all staff have been really friendly and helpful.
