A north Cumbrian construction company has completed the first phase of a major town centre regeneration project.
Longtown-based RH Irving Construction has been the main contractor on the transformation of a formerly derelict shell on Dumfries High Street into new flats and enterprise spaces.
It is the first wave of major work by Midsteeple Quarter, a community benefit society which taken a number of town centre properties into community ownership as part of a long-term redevelopment vision
It aims to gradually redevelop each of its buildings – with people living in the spaces in the higher levels, with a mix of other uses at lower ones.
RH Irving recently formally handed the site back to Midsteeple Quarter.
Mark Moodycliffe, the firm’s managing director, said: “We are proud and delighted to have successfully completed construction of The Standard – the first stage of what everyone hopes is an ongoing journey to regenerate and reimagine Dumfries town centre.
“This has been a challenging and complex project and I am grateful for the tireless efforts of our management, delivery teams and supply chain partners over the past two years.
“We have enjoyed strong constructive and collaborative relationships with Midsteeple Quarter, its project design team and other stakeholders, which has gone a long way towards successful completion.
“I am particularly proud that the project was delivered by a locally-based company, with our project and site teams – along with most of our supply chain – local to Dumfries and Galloway, ensuring maximum local economic benefit was delivered.”
The first residents have started moving into the new flats created in the complex, named as The Standard.
Work on the community and enterprise hub which sits beneath them has been the final piece of the landmark project to have been completed in recent days, ready for people to start using those spaces.
Robert Richmond, chair of Midsteeple Quarter, said: “This is a community-owned building unlike any other in Dumfries. We are incredibly excited about what the future holds.
“Its completion marks the dawn of a new era for our town centre, where people return to living in quality, homes sitting above spaces which encourage entrepreneurship by giving people, enterprises and organisations affordable opportunities to have their own home on the High Street too.”
The seven flats for rent are the first new homes on the High Street in living memory, with many offering amazing views across the town.
Other spaces, meanwhile – which include a hot-desking hub, meeting rooms, exhibition and event areas – are unlike anything else locally.
Construction of The Standard – a £7.3m project supported by the Scottish Government, South of Scotland Enterprise, Dumfries & Galloway Council and the Holywood Trust – has taken just over two years to complete.
The building has been designed with environmental sustainability at its core, with energy-efficiency measures including solar panels and an air-source heat pump. The development is also car-free, with no parking.
Midsteeple Quarter’s work to take buildings into community ownership – underpinned by the principle that this is the fairest way to act in the interests of townsfolk to create a stronger, more sustainable town centre – is considered as trailblazing.
The community benefit society also owns numbers 109, 111, 113-115 and 117 High Street – which are currently in “meanwhile” use with a mixture of long-term tenants and pop-up spaces – as well as 51 Bank Street, where it has secured planning permission to create four new flats.
Midsteeple Quarter directors are currently developing plans for its next phases of work and redevelopment, looking at those other buildings.
