RENFREWSHIRE Council is celebrating after the Paisley Learning and Cultural Hub won the ESG Refurbishment of the Year category at the Scottish Property Awards.
Home to Paisley Central Library, the hub was created following a £7 million investment by the local authority as part of a drive to regenerate Paisley and give people reasons to visit the town centre.
Housed within a former High Street shop and spread over four floors, the new building includes a reception area, children’s library and storytelling area – with a play structure including a climbing wall and slide also in place having been co-designed with artist Claire Barclay. The upper floors include an outdoor terrace, community rooms and a study area.
The venue is operated by local culture and leisure trust OneRen.
Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, Renfrewshire Council’s cultural spokesperson and chair of OneRen, said, “We’re delighted to see the Learning and Cultural Hub gaining the recognition it deserves as it has been an incredible transformation of the building – and we’re already seeing the benefits with a huge increase in visitors compared to the same period last year. Placing a library in the centre of the High Street is part of our ongoing drive to give people new reasons to visit the town centre as we believe culture should be at the heart of its future and this modern, welcoming hub aims to be inclusive and accessible for all.”
The project was also nominated in the Regeneration Project of the Year category, alongside the £20 million regeneration of Paisley Town Hall.
Jordan McCrae, architect at Collective Architecture, said, “Winning the ESG Refurbishment of the Year award is a great achievement for all involved. We are delighted that the client’s vision and the team’s hard work has resulted in a fantastic building which will hopefully provide a truly public space on Paisley High Street and act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the area.”
The building was delivered in partnership with Hub West Scotland, whose CEO Iain Marley added, “We are delighted that the outstanding Paisley Learning and Cultural Hub was crowned ESG Refurbishment of the Year at the Scottish Property Awards. Creating new spaces and fully upgrading and rejuvenating a 150-year-old building involved many challenges, but project has delivered a fantastic high-quality facility that is already being widely and enthusiastically enjoyed by the community and it will play a key role within the overall regeneration of Paisley Town Centre. We are also very proud that the project enabled the creation of eight work experience placements and four new jobs.”
The refurbishment was carried out by CCG construction. CCG MD David Wylie commented, “The Scottish Property Awards is a prestigious body for the construction sector in Scotland so to win ESG refurbishment of the year is testament to the hard work of everyone that was involved. A special mention goes to our dedicated site team who, despite the fallout of the pandemic, worked tirelessly during a very complicated construction programme to deliver a truly an outstanding new building that will be enjoyed by the local community for many years to come.”
