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Bathgate Centre Development

Bathgate Partnership Centre West Lothian, Scotland design by BDP Architects

31 Oct 2011

A £7m community complex has been officially opened in West Lothian

Bathgate Partnership Centre West Lothian

Bathgate Partnership Centre, Lindsay House, was built by Ogilvie Construction for West Lothian Council. It was officially opened by the authority’s executive councillor for culture and leisure, Cllr Jim Walker, on October 28.

The new centre, off the town’s South Bridge Street, includes a library, community centre, registration office, customer information services (CIS) centre, advice shop, adult basic education, an IT learning suite, community meeting rooms and a café. The complex also includes a landscaped community garden, including an orchard.

pictures from PRS

The opening ceremony also saw the new library named the “Simpson Library” after James Young Simpson, the famous son of Bathgate, who discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.

In recognition of Bathgate’s twinning partnership with Cran Gevrier in France, the registration service ceremony room has been named the Cran Gevrier Suite.

Cllr Walker said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been invited to open this fantastic new building. It is a marvellous resource for Bathgate with so many services available in one location. It is really vibrant and you can feel a buzz in the building. It is great that so many local community representatives attended along with a delegation from the town’s twinning partner Cran Gevrier.”

Phil McEwan, the managing director of Ogilvie Construction, said: “It’s great to see the new partnership centre up and running. It’s a fantastic addition to the public buildings in Bathgate and brings a wealth of local services under one roof.

“Ogilvie has a strong record working with local authorities. We were delighted to be awarded the contract by West Lothian Council to build this new centre.

“I’m very pleased with the finished result. The completed building is absolutely stunning and seems to be a real hit with local people.”

The new building was designed by architects BDP, also responsible for the Council’s new civic centre in nearby Livingston.

Ogilvie Construction, part of the Ogilvie Group, is one of the leading building firms in Scotland. The family-owned business has its head office in Stirling and operates throughout Scotland and the North of England.

10 Mar 2010

Bathgate Partnership Centre

BATHGATE CENTRE TO START ON SITEConstruction is due to commence in early April on the new £7m Bathgate Partnership Centre, designed by BDP. The 2550sqm project for West Lothian Council is programmed for completion in summer 2011.

pictures from architect

Located on a prominent site in the West Lothian town, the proposals consolidate the currently dispersed council services under one roof. The partnership ethos for the new building is based on a concept of a shared working space strategy which will allow operational interfaces between the various stakeholders, providing users with a with a ‘one stop shop’.

The ground floor of the two storey building houses a public library, advice shop, community centre and café, grouped around a double height street. The upper floor accommodates open plan offices for the various council departments, and allows for flexible working patterns by providing the occupants with a variety of meeting spaces and quiet areas.

A south facing enclosed garden and orchard to the rear of the building enables ground floor activities such as the library, café and crèche to spill out into a dynamic external space.

The facades are clad in random cut Caithness flagstone and seamed brass to create a welcoming yet appropriately civic presence, and to set a benchmark for future urban realm improvements in the town.

The building has a sedum roof and incorporates a small scale gas CHP system, natural ventilation including a solar flue to utilize the stack effect, a heat displacement and recovery system as well as a number of other energy reduction measures. It will have an EPC rating of B+.

The new building will provide a feeling of belonging and pride by being clearly identifiable as an integral part of the local community, as well as being modern, attractive, spacious and practical to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

Bathgate Partnership Centre images / information from BDP Architects

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