September 1 2014

Plans for a £200m mixed use development at Braehead, Renfrewshire, have been given a shot in the arm after the Scottish Government granted the shopping mall town centre status – placing it on a par with Silverburn and Glasgow Fort.

The controversial move was initially blocked but government officials backed down over fears of a loss of investment, clearing the way for Capital Shopping Centres to progress their waterfront regeneration master plan.

This calls for the introduction of new pedestrian and cycle routes bridging the busy Kings Inch Road, additional retail, leisure and multi-storey car parking, public spaces, a relocated transport interchange, 5,000 seat arena and 200 bed hotel drawn up by Chapman Taylor.

Centrepiece of this effort will be the arena, intended to become ‘emblematic of Braehead’, as a replacement for the existing arena as a modern sport and concert venue. This will front a public square opening up views to the River Clyde and Renfrew town hall.

In their design statement Capital Shopping Centres wrote: “The strategic masterplan aims to achieve a better connectivity by reinforcing town centre attributes and better integration with surrounding character areas. At the site level, it is achieved through thepublic realm; the spaces, footpaths and landscape treatment.

“A sense of place is particularly important at Braehead where the predominant existing built form has not been conceived as a town centre.”

Plans in principle for the scheme were submitted back in January 2013.

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