March 8 2023

Plans for a replacement residents' hub in Ayr have been filed by LMA Architects, replacing a portacabin serving three condemned tower blocks with a purpose-built facility.

Meeting the needs of an expanding population at Riverside Place the single-storey community building would provide a communal meeting spot for residents with a private meeting room and accessible facilities for future residents.

Following planning approval in 2021, the hub must be repositioned as one of the towers under demolition has been temporarily reprieved, necessitating a reconfiguration of planned housing for a council-backed estate renewal programme.

In a design statement, LMA wrote: "The location allows the hub to be placed closer to the river walkway, a significant distance from the vacant remaining tower to allow future demolition offsets while feeling like a part of the overall development.

"The pavilion orientation follows the logic of the broader design intent, sitting angled to the river and set back from it, on a relatively flat area on site. This also allows for its own external open space. The footprint has been kept minimal, to appear as an ancillary building and structure."

A pronounced corner element acknowledges the River Ayr, delivering a higher ceiling to communal areas. The hub will be finished in dark brick with lighter brick used for window reveals and surrounds.  

1 Comment

#1 Posted by Tony Reid on 8 Mar 2023 at 12:53 PM

This seems odd. It appears that this small facility was to service the needs of the community in the now demolished tower blocks. There are plans to redevelop the site and build future housing on the existing site. Why not make the provision of integrated facilities in those new buildings a condition of the planning permission for the new builds & save the council a few bob! Does not appear to be joined up thinking.

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