Kilmarnock’s townscape regeneration is progressing well thanks to a major contribution by a local firm with an international reputation.

Bespoke metal railings used extensively in the ‘Kilmarnock – Connecting Places Project’ were built locally by Kilmarnock firm Annandale Design whose innovative creations are used in major projects throughout Britain and overseas.

The ‘Kilmarnock – Connecting Places Project’ is a £1.4m project aimed at improving the environment of key locations within Kilmarnock Town Centre. The project includes the introduction of high quality street surfaces and lighting with work carried out to Nelson Street, Strand Street, Sandbed Street and West George Street areas. The overall aim of the work is to make pedestrian access from the railway station to the town centre easier, safer and more inviting.

Annandale, who specialise in manufacturing and installing metal and glasswork, fabricated and installed the bespoke railings along the Sandbed river wall and also the pedestrian guardrails in West George Street/Garden Street/Portland Street.

Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of East Ayrshire said: “The quality of Annandale’s work is exceptional, particularly the pedestrian guardrails on the corner at the Goodfellows building where the surface slopes and turns a corner. Annandale do a lot of bespoke metalwork across the country and are highly regarded. They make everything from “grand designs” type steel and glass staircases to shop fitments for national retail chains, all from their Kilmarnock base. We’re very lucky to have such skills within East Ayrshire and are proud to have some of their work as part of our regeneration project.”

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Kilmarnock Town Centre Regeneration Project is being spearheaded by East Ayrshire Council with significant funding from the Scottish Government through the Town Centre Regeneration Fund and support from Scottish Enterprise, Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The main contractors on the “Connecting Places” project are Luddon Construction Ltd. They subcontracted the metalwork to Annandale who worked to a design by Helen MacLeod of TGP Landscape Architects.

Graeme Frew of Annandale explained: “We’re a family firm, set up by my father nearly 50 years ago, based in Kilmarnock and we’re very happy to be working with East Ayrshire on this latest project. We undertake work all over the UK and abroad and have supplied cruise ships and architects all over the world, including Gibraltar, Germany and the Middle East. We couldn’t achieve what we do without our fantastic workforce which is multi-skilled, adapting to whatever a project demands. We take on apprentices every year and it’s great to see them learning and becoming craftsmen.

“We pride ourselves on the quality of our workmanship and our close links with architects which mean we win a huge variety of contracts from large scale projects to basic items for householders. Over the years we’ve worked on many East Ayrshire projects, from the street furniture and lampposts in King Street to the new Grange Campus. One of our recent projects was in a £15 million house in London installing a stunning staircase with treads costing £3000.00 each and yet I get just as much pleasure seeing our railings and street furniture in my home town.”

(GK)