A new council building in Dumbarton has been crowned one of the year's best projects in Britain.

The multi-million pound scheme saw a new West Dunbartonshire Council office built at 16 Church Street. This involved transforming the site while retaining the William Leiper-designed Grade A listed façade.

Following a win at the regional Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards earlier this year, the project went on to compete at the national event, where it was named the winner.

The facility, which accommodates 500 Council staff, has improved access to services for residents, brought economic benefits to businesses in the town and brought savings to the Council in the region of £400,000 per year.

The Council worked with Hub West Scotland on the new office, with Lendlease as the main contractor and Keppie Design as architects, and also benefited from the input of the Conservation Architect Andrew Wright OBE.


Judges from RICS commended the facility for bringing new vitality and spending power to the town centre. Since its opening, development of adjacent sites has begun including building of new homes in the town centre and a new Lidl store.

Councillor Iain McLaren, Convener for Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development, said: "I am delighted to see that the hard work and dedication that has gone into this project has seen it recognised as the best in the whole of the UK.

"We are extremely proud of Dumbarton's rich heritage and Church Street has been sympathetically conserved to ensure that we did not lose even a small part of that.

"On top of that, this building has also given a huge economic boost to the local area. Since we opened our doors to the community, the difference in the town centre has been clearly visible and the benefits of this extra footfall are being felt by our traders and businesses."

Speaking at the event, national RICS judge Malcolm Young FRICS, commented: "The West Dunbartonshire Council staff can now enjoy more efficient, collaborative working while the build brings new vitality and spending power to the town centre.

"The project has skillfully merged old with new while maintaining functionality and purpose, and the added value social benefits of being located on the high street have already attracted interest from across Europe."

The RICS national award is the sixth the facility has received to date, with Church Street also picking up their regional Regeneration Project of the Year; being named Regeneration Project of the Year in the Scottish Property Awards; awarded Corporate Workplace Award and the Innovation Award in the British Council for Offices Awards, and winning the award for Architecture: Regeneration at the Scottish Design Awards.

(CM/JG)