A historic regeneration is planned of Penicuik. In order to carry out the needed refurbishment works, Midlothian Council has appointed specialist regeneration consultant Douglas Wheeler Associates and the architects Austin-Smith:Lord. These two companies have been appointed to work with the residents of Penicuik in order to come up with a range of proposals for the regeneration work that is needed in the town.
Austin-Smith:Lord has been in operation since 1949 and was first established by Mike and Inette Austin-Smith. Since being established the company has expanded and now hires more than 50 people and operates from a number of different studion in the UK, including Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool, London and Cardiff. The architect’s firm has been recognised over the years with more than 150 different awards and accreditation’s and has also managed to successfully deliver more than 5,000 projects which include a number of buildings that are of national importance.
The scheme of work has been granted some funding by the Heritage Fund Lottery. Engaging with the community is the first step in this regeneration process, then a repair proposal will be created which will cover the work to repair some of the older buildings in the town centre as well as carrying out repairs to the roads and streets. There could also be a proposed development that could lead to a number of new community activities held in the town centre.
After all of the relevant information has been gathered as part of a proposal, another application will be put forward to the Heritage lottery fund for further funding. If this extra funding is granted by the fund, it is estimated that more than £1.69 million could be granted to carry out the work to breathe new life into the town centre. On top of this, if the second round of funding is approved, an extra £725,000 would be released from Historic Environment Scotland. If approved the funding will be released from April next year and will be released gradually over the course of five years in order to see the necessary work completed.
